


To Die Screaming

by Jules6



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 12:56:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 37,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12531900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jules6/pseuds/Jules6
Summary: Daniel Jackson has been trapped on his own inside the Gateroom by the incoming invaders. The staff of SGC and his own team are unable to see what is happening to him or help him in any way.  For Daniel... his pain has only just begun... and they haven't even begun to hear him scream yet.Story One (1) of a Trilogy





	1. Disturbed

**Author's Note:**

> The latest mission through the Stargate seems to have come up with no treaty with the inhabitants for mineral rights or any other kind of agreement. But meeting with these new people will bring about events and troubles that none were about to foresee nor prevent. 
> 
> This story is the first in a Trilogy of three (3) stories. “To Die Screaming” “Deadly Cycles” and “Dishonest Intentions”  
> Author Notes: Takes place before the death of Daniel’s wife. Includes mentions of what happened in episodes “Fire and Water” and others.
> 
> Disclaimer: Stargate SG1 and the characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has been exchanged. No copyright infringement is intended. Entertainment value only.
> 
> And plenty of angst, hurt/comfort. This won't be a Disney story.
> 
> This will be a very very long story, with many chapters, and many of those being long as well – just the way I write. And I usually try and describe from the viewpoint of multiple characters for any one scene. As well as describe every rock, tree branch and blade of grass along the way.
> 
> I have a very complicated plot planned, and some many not agree how I have altered the course of things, or that I introduce them differently than the tv show or film. Hopefully you will continue to follow and read as the story progresses. If it hasn't happened yet, or there isn't enough information about something yet, that is usually deliberate on my part. Sometimes there are subtle clues that I put in chapters, other times I don't.
> 
> This first chapter is mostly setting up for what is going to happen in later. There is usually method to my madness, but other times there is no method.
> 
> I have taken information from a number of sources, some canon, some not, and a lot my own interpretation of why thing happen the way they do.
> 
> A new fandom for me, but to my other readers please know that I have been writing all of my other fandoms too and a lot of rewriting of those chapters and stories to come in addition to the new chapters and stories.
> 
> This story is going to slow building so things will take quite a while. I promise to put all the toys back in the box when I have finished playing with them.
> 
> I never claimed to be a sane author. Just a nutty one.
> 
> Strong friendship bond between Jack O’Neill and Daniel Jackson only – no slash.
> 
> All medical facts are entirely made up and used to the benefit of the story only in a fictional world.

**CHAPTER ONE – DISTURBED**

****

**_on with the story:_ **

The weather was pleasant for mid-morning as the four team members of SG-1 made their way along a narrow path back to the Stargate.  Someone taking the time to stop at look at the landscape might have even been persuaded to comment about the lush vegetation and pleasing scenery.  There were few clouds in the sky to speak of but one could have been mistaken for believing that a little darker mood had settled over at least one of them. 

Samantha Carter briefly glanced back over her shoulder at her friend and saw him lost in thought and his brow creased in concentration.  She had offered to listen to him back in the city about what he was thinking or sensing from their hosts, but he hadn’t offered any plausible explanation.  Anthropology was not her forte, although she would have summarised the personalities of the leaders as _'snobbish'_ or _'standoffish'_.   

Before arriving on this world, the UAV had brought back some very impressive and exciting results for precious metal deposits.  If the readings were correct, then the minerals were in quite large quantities.  At the briefing she had presented to her team and General Hammond, the major had hinted at the possibility of some foreign minerals that had not been encountered before. 

Their mission objective was to find the source of these deposits and negotiate with any civilised races of people or intelligent life-forms who were inhabiting the areas.   Earth needed access to these materials to continue their fight against the ever threatening G’oauld.  And if the inhabitants of this world were more advanced with weapons or in the areas of medicine, then so much the better for a treaty to be struck.

Daniel had shouldered the brunt of the treaty workload, being the linguist and the only one able to establish a verbal connection with the people.  When they first greeted the people he had trouble trying to ascertain where their language was derived from.   He was courteous, polite and studious and never complained over what was required of him. 

None of them had been comfortable with the insistence that Daniel be separated from his team as the representative and negotiator.  Jack had started to openly voice his concerns, only to be thwarted by the chastising raise of one hand and the Vice-Chancellor request that only one person be part of the discussions.  Since none of the other three could understand a word of their dialect, then the obvious choice was made all too soon.

Daniel had deciphered enough of their language to be be certain the people of this planet called themselves the Utarians, their name meaning ' _One Race'_.

Colonel O'Neill kept his facial expression blank and unreadable, but to his team members there were always subtle signs of him completing necessary risk assessment upon coming to a new place or coming across a new group of people.  The position of his hands on his weapon and his adjustment of the cap he wore, signalled that he was frustrated and wary. 

Glancing over at Teal'c he searched for confirmation of the need for his unspoken surveillance, but the large Jaffa didn't convey any unease.   The oddity that did became most obvious was the small population in number.  A few guarded remarks about just how many lived nearby was meant with the same stony expression they had been greeted with, and a brief rebuttal of _'as many as are deemed necessary'_.  So the question still remained unanswered.

Hours later, Daniel had reported back that the leaders had virtually scoffed at any suggestion of him being able to view their history or their teachings or their cultural ways.  From his observations they didn't appear to have a religion of any kind, but he was informed that there were strict laws about who was allowed to do what within their population.  There was a strict hierarchical class system in place and its perimeters exacting and inflexible.

Daniel didn't think he had been making any impression on these new leaders at all.  Any questions he had asked, seemed to be answered by a question of their own about Earth and his own culture.  The Vice-Chancellor Logatue had done very little speaking, leaving the bulk of the talking to his advisor, Rogyli.

After the initial fruitless discussions, SG1 had been afforded reasonably comfortable accommodations and given adequate food and water.   The room they had been given was large and split into a number of smaller sleeping quarters by partitions.  The people's clothing was basic in style and bland in colour, and their food wasn't very exotic or inviting either.  The population were of moderate means, but the team didn't want to insult them, and graciously accepted what was offered to them.

The bedding that they had been provided with was simple and low on the floor of the building.  Jack inwardly griped about getting up in the morning wasn't going to his knees any good, but just smiled at the middle-aged woman who waited for permission to leave and that everything was to their liking.  Daniel was too quick to praise her efforts for them all in his opinion taking stock of the scratchy thin blanket and the straw matting.

Teal'c walked from one end of the sleep area to the other that they were to occupy, “These walls do not appear to be very sturdy.” pressing his hand against the wooden frame and noting the spaces at the top of the wall and the bottom to allow ventilation from outside.  

“No, and their lack of privacy leaves a lot to be desired,” Jack returned, meeting with the Jaffa in the middle of the room, with Sam and Daniel.  “I think it might be prudent to set up a watch roster tonight just between us, nothing fancy, just as a precaution.  Four hourly rotation, you taking first watch Daniel as you need the sleep the most.”

Daniel chose to ignore the over-protective comment, “Don't you think it might seem a little rude to these leaders, if they think we cannot trust them, Jack?  They are already apprehensive about us being here at all, not to mention them not openly admitting to the planet possessing any minerals or weapons,” the archaeologist pointed out.

“I not saying that I don't trust them, Daniel,” Jack jumped in quickly, looking up briefly and adjusting the volume of his voice, “But there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of security here.  There is also a heck of a lot of other things Lego and Roger are deliberately not telling us.”

The linguist frowned at the Colonel's deliberate mispronunciation of the leaders he had been speaking to, instantly correcting, knowing that any disrespect displayed  from Jack could help his efforts further.

Any further conversation between them was cut short as a messenger arrived to announce that the evening meal would be served within the hour, and that as guests, they were invited to attend.  The emphasis was on the word _invited_ which really sounded like _expected._  

The temperature had fluctuated only about 10 degrees Celsius since they had exited the Star Gate, the day on the planet appearing to last a little longer than Earth.  Carter had surmised about 28 hours in comparison.   The afternoon wasn't drawing anywhere near quickly enough for Jack as he fidgeted, signs of boredom surfacing.

The first evening saw them join in repast with the city leaders, although the meal provided had appeared as a little unappealing. 

Daniel had graciously taken a few mouthfuls of the overly salty dish so as not to displease their hosts, but a bitter oily after-taste had been left on his tongue and he had not eaten any more.

Jack, Sam and Teal’c didn’t object to the taste nearly as much and had calmly consumed what was offered.  Daniel had been expecting Jack to make some lame comments about the cuisine, but was grateful when the Colonel ate without talking much.

For the remainder of their time on the planet, Daniel went through the motions of joining in meal times, but kept his consumption to a minimum, using their own food rations away from the hosts at night to keep up his strength.

When meal times were finished, then he had tried to negotiate more with the leaders of the city about working with the people of Earth and establishing another ally against the Goa’uld.

However, thus far all of those efforts had only served to be unfruitful, with the leaders adamantly refusing to meet even halfway on any point of discussion that Daniel introduced.

It wasn’t for lack of trying though and the talks continued for the majority of the time during their visit and on a couple of occasions late into the night.  When Daniel retired to their guest quarters, he found that he couldn’t sleep, the conversations that he had shared swirling around in his mind.

Jack had been alert for any signs of trouble and thankfully none had presented themselves, but he couldn’t figure out why Daniel was getting so wound up.  It wasn’t his usual stance when it came to meeting new cultures and secretly it had him wondering what else might be going on.

He tried to goad Daniel a little at night with playful remarks about the city to try and draw some comments out of the man, but so far he had remained fairly tight lipped.  Another sign that was highly unusual for their archaeologist.

On most missions, you could bet that with any such negotiations, Daniel would come back and exuberantly tell his team what a great chance they had with this culture and how much they might be able to gain in learning their customs and language.

Daniel had been the only one permitted to represent Earth at the talks, closed away for a number of hours until meal breaks.   Jack had made it abundantly and clear that he didn’t approve of one of his team being anywhere on his own.

His protests fell on deaf ears for the most part and he had to hold his tongue on several occasions to avoid saying something more harsh and hence foiling Daniel’s already tenuous attempts at a peaceful co-operation.

There had been a few tense moments and the rest of the team had become concerned about the toll that the extremely long hours had been extracted from their friend, physically and mentally.

Particularly when it seemed like despite the best efforts they were all for nought.

“So………….,” Jack prompted as he halted his pace a little and began walking in step with Daniel. 

Carter had taken point and Teal’c now remained at the rear of the group, allowing the two men to talk a little more casually.

“I don’t know what else to tell you, Jack,” Daniel announced, his voice betraying his sense of exasperation and his fatigue.

Jack was sorely tempted to remind Daniel that he hadn’t in fact revealed very much at all about the discussions and why he didn’t think a treaty would work, but he was beaten to the punch by the Major. 

“What makes you think we cannot trust them, Daniel?” Carter interjected, hoping that she could run between the Colonel and the archaeologist and they could understand his point of view.

 “I would gladly tell you, Sam, if I knew,” Daniel said, still walking slowly towards the Stargate, exhaling wearily.  “There was just something ……………… Not what they said, but …………….”

 “How they said it,” Jack finished the sentence with a smug look on his face.

 Daniel stopped walking for a minute and gave Jack the best exaggerated roll of his eyes that he could muster.   He was just too tired at the moment to want to argue any further.

 It was the same line that Daniel had repeated to his team on at least six occasions since they had left the city, ready to head back home. 

 “You’ve been telling us that for the last three clicks back to the gate, Daniel,” Jack taunted.

 “Sorry for being so boring,” Daniel shot back, sounding a little more abrupt than he had meant.

 “Carter, dial us home,” Jack ordered as the team got close to the DHD.

 “Yes, Sir,” Sam responded automatically, pressing the symbols in the correct sequence.

 Daniel removed his backpack and set it down with an audible sigh, taking off his glasses and rubbing tiredly at his eyes.  He tucked them into the pocket of his jacket for safe keeping.

 “Look, I didn’t mean it that way, Daniel,” Jack said, the tone of his voice clearly changing to one of concern as he took a good look at his friend. 

 The slumped posture and the signs of a headache were not what he wanted to see.   He could see the tiredness and the frustration oozing out of every pore.

 “Nobody tried harder than you back there,” O’Neill voiced in praise, “But they just weren’t willing to come to the party.”

 “But what I don’t understand is why, Jack,” Daniel responded, frowning again as certain phrases that he had heard came back into his head.  He could feel the slight tension in his temples and knew that if he didn’t stop thinking soon, he would have a full blown migraine before the day ended.

“Maybe they are just like the Tollans and the Tok’ra and not willing to share,” Jack suggested, walking over a little closer to his friend.  

Teal’c had been listening to the two men as they waited for Carter sent the remote access codes through to Stargate Command, letting them know they were coming through.

“What is the main basis of your concern, Daniel Jackson?” the Jaffa queried.

Daniel paused a minute before answering, looking back at the dark-skinned man and then to Jack, trying to think of an alternative word that would sound more correct for what he could feel in his gut.

Picking up his backpack upon seeing the event horizon now engaged and ready for them to enter the wormhole.

“Not concern exactly, Teal’c,” Daniel offered, “More like disturbed…………..,”

Jack, Sam and Teal’c exchanged worried glances between each other for a brief second, before heading through the horizon themselves.

* * *

 

Upon hitting the ramp, Jack had to side-step a minute as he came across Daniel still standing at towards the top. 

“Watch it, Dannyboy, coming through,” Jack joked, but his words barely extracted a glance from his friend.

 Within the embarkation room, General Hammond was standing waiting for them, together with the usual armed security detail.

 “Close the iris,” Hammond ordered, “Welcome back, SG1.”

 The metallic clang of the iris echoed within the walls as it meshed together, sealing out any possible hostiles or threats.

 Jack, Sam and Teal’c continued their way down the ramp and stepped off, ready to go through the usual post-mission procedures and protocol.

 “Doctor Jackson?” Hammond enquired as he saw the younger man still standing at the top of the ramp, with a puzzled almost pinched expression on his face.

 Jack pointed to his head and silently mouthed the word _“headache”_ to his commanding officer, whilst still looking up at his friend. 

 Hammond nodded his head in acknowledgement, and could see the young man was troubled by something.  He lacked the usual vitality that he had come home with on previous occasions and he looked rumpled and tired.

 For the moment Daniel seemed to be still deep in thought, as though wrestling with himself, barely hearing the General’s question.

 “I think we can scratch any idea of those people helping, General,” Jack said, giving some detail on how the mission had fared poorly.  “They didn’t want to know us.”

 “Any reason for that, Colonel?” Hammond asked, keeping one eye on Daniel and noting that the young man had still yet to move further down the ramp. 

 When they had first planned out this mission, Doctor Jackson had been quite eloquent and persuasive in his methods and how he thought they may be able to achieve co-operation between the two worlds.

 “Not for lack of trying though, Sir,” Jack continued.  “Danny gave them the best speeches and played nice guy for days, even into the night.  Worked himself ragged, mostly for nothing,” he added, hoping to drag his friend out of his slump and accept his efforts had not been worthless.

 Upon looking up, Daniel could see everyone looking back at him, waiting for him to answer.  “Um er what?” was the best response he could get out taking one step forward.

Sam was prepared to walk back up the ramp.  It wasn’t too often that her friend was stumped in reporting to General Hammond and his obvious confusion worried her.

“Are you alright, Daniel?”

Daniel was about to give his standard reply of _“I am fine”_ to the blond Major when something else entirely different happened.

Without warning, the archaeologist felt what he could only describe as a powerful electric surge running from beneath the ramp through his entire body.  Through his boots and feet, and jolting through all of him.

His body jerked forward and he almost lost his balance, aimlessly reaching out to grab a hold of one of the side railings until he could correct his equilibrium.

What he hadn’t heard was the sharp loud gasp of pain that escaped his lips. 

From where everybody else was standing at the bottom of the ramp, what they saw and heard was Daniel inhale acutely as if he was in pain and almost fall flat on his face.  They could see his body spasm violently and then freeze in a rigid stance and go completely still for a moment or two.

“Daniel!” Jack shouted, diving up the ramp almost as quickly as Teal’c and Sam, all of them forgetting that they may at risk from whatever was attacking their teammate.

“Doctor Jackson!” Hammond called out, before quickly heading towards an emergency phone and calling for a medical team.

Daniel’s face had lost colour and he was trying to draw and gulp breath into his lungs to offset the sharp intake of pain that he was experiencing.   He went to take a step forward, but his legs felt like jelly and began to betray him.

By the time Jack reached out with a steadying hand, Daniel had fallen to his knees and was still trying to regain his composure and counteract the effects of the electrical current.

“What the hell happened?” Jack asked, his voice a little louder than necessary, earning him a rebuking glare from Carter for the outburst.

Daniel felt someone calling out to him, and turned towards the voice, very much like a minute or two before, not having heard or comprehended the question demanded of him.

He looked up at Jack and then turned to face Sam with a pale, wide-eyed expression, licking his lips to moisten them before speaking.  “Felt……”

“Felt what, Daniel?” Sam asked in a gentler tone of voice, none of them any the wiser to knowing yet what had happened.  

General Hammond was still standing at the bottom of the ramp, and the defence team who had relaxed slightly a short time ago, were now back to being on full alert, with weapons raised, and waiting for any invading force through the iris.

It took a few more seconds before Daniel spoke again, his voice a little stronger, “felt like electricity …………… flowing through me.”

“What!” Jack cried out in alarm, thinking that somehow his friend had received some sort of electric shock. 

Jack now looked down at his feet and realized that all four of them were standing on the metal alloy ramp and they too might be shocked, but for the moment, he couldn’t admit to feeling anything like that.  Not even a small flicker.

“For crying out loud, Daniel we just got back a few minutes ago,” Jack said too quickly.  “Could you at least let us get over that mission first before you do anything else crazy.”

Teal’c inclined his head slightly, raising one eyebrow and gave a warning and displeased look towards O’Neill as if to say that this was not the time to be chastising Daniel Jackson when their friend needed medical help and understanding.

O’Neill looked back and immediately thought _“Some weird Jaffa revenge ritual”_ in store for me at some point in the very near future.

Carter had scrambled to grab Daniel’s forgotten backpack and quickly jumped off the ramp herself to avoid further potential risk.

“Getting off here now, Danny,” Jack said, his actions careful and cautious as he and Teal’c stood either side of Daniel and pulled him to his feet.   He gave no resistance at being helped to stand, his face displaying pain.

They didn’t know if he had sustained any injuries, but he was still too pale and the two of them could feel small shivers running through his limbs as they supported most of his weight.

“General, Sir?” Doctor Janet Fraiser asked as she and two orderlies came racing into the room, ready for anything, but not entirely too sure what they were facing yet.  All they had heard was an emergency request for medical assistance in the gateroom.

Janet was almost ready to put her foot on the ramp when Jack yelled out, “STOP!”  “Daniel says he got an electric shock from the ramp,” he informed them.

Fraiser stopped where she was and impatiently waited as she saw the Colonel and Teal’c leading Daniel towards her.

“Do any of you feel anything now?” Hammond asked, worried that more than one of his main team may still in danger of being injured.

“Nothing that I can feel, Sir,” O’Neill admitted, looking at the other two for their confirmation.  Both Teal’c and Sam shook their heads in a negative response to having felt any form of electrical current on the ramp.

Jack was getting a little anxious at the deliberately slow walking pace of his friend and was tempted to throw him over his shoulder and dump him into Fraiser’s waiting capable hands, but something about the expression on Daniel’s face stopped him from doing that.

“Daniel?” Fraiser questioned as the young man neared the end of the ramp and was guided off by his team.  She could see the slightly dazed look in his blue eyes and the pinched lines on his handsome face. 

“Are you having any pain right now, Daniel?” Janet asked, putting her hand on his shoulder and detecting the tremors that Jack and Teal’c could feel.

She put the palm of her hand on his cheek, hoping to gain his attention.  There was a distinct coolness to his skin.  She could see the tiredness from lack of sleep.

Daniel closed his eyes for a moment and drew in another deep breath before letting it out very slowly, before opening them again and looking back at the doctor.  He was about to say something to her when he felt his legs weaken again and his body swaying slightly.

Teal’c released his hold and allowed O’Neill to support his friend more closely.  Jack immediately looped a much stronger arm around the younger man’s waist, in case his friend was in danger of collapse. 

“Let’s get him to the infirmary,” Fraiser said firmly, keeping a careful eye on her patient the entire time.  She took one of his hands as he was lead from the room, reaching for his pulse point on his wrist and noticing a distinct raciness to the rhythm. 

Jack carefully guided his friend down the corridor towards the elevator, worried when Daniel failed to even protest at the efforts of his friends and Fraiser. 

* * *

Samantha Carter was still standing in the gateroom with General Hammond as they watched Daniel and Fraiser leave with Teal’c following behind.

“Major, seal off the gate and the ramp until the proper testing can be done to make sure it is safe before any more teams leave or come back,” Hammond ordered. 

“I will get Sergeant Siler onto it immediately, Sir,” Samantha affirmed.  

She too wanted to go to the infirmary and check on her friend, but knew that they had to make sure the gateroom was properly sealed off before anybody else was hurt.

It might take a little while before Janet had an accurate diagnosis about Daniel anyway.

“Major, I would like to debrief as soon as possible, but given what has just happened to Doctor Jackson, I can leave it a little longer.   I have a meeting in two hours, the rest of your team can meet with me after that.”

“I let the Colonel and Teal’c know, Sir,” Sam promised.

“Keep me informed on the progress of the testing and of Doctor Jackson, please,” Hammond requested.

“Yes, Sir,” Sam saluted as the General walked out of the room towards his own office.

In all the time she had worked at Cheyenne Mountain, she had never heard of something like this occurring in the gateroom itself.  They had just returned safely from a mission, and it didn’t make any sense that Daniel was the only one attacked.

Sam started co-ordinating with a few of the marines left to bring out some barricades and warning tape to place around the ramp and gate.  

Once that was in place, she would have to join forces with Sergeant Davis in the control room and contact any of the off-world teams that were due to come home and delay that return until the testing was completed.

* * *

Back in the infirmary, Jack led a still unsteady Daniel over to the corner bed and waited until his friend sat down slowly on it before releasing his supportive hold.

Daniel’s head was hanging low and he seemed to be taking in very little of the chaos and confusion going on around him.

Janet is still standing close by but was currently talking to one of the nurses and giving some directions as to what is to happen.

Jack had his attention firmly focused on Daniel, his thoughts drifting a little as to what might have happened, but was brought back to reality when she turned and spoke to him.

“Colonel, why don’t you come back in an hour or two.  I am sure Doctor Jackson will be ready for visitors then,” Janet suggested.

“You sure you want me to leave him alone?” Jack asked still concerned about the lack of animation of his best friend. 

O’Neill knew that Daniel was tired and had seen the drawn features as they approached the ramp, but the concept that he had received an electric shock of some sort just scared him silly.

“I am sure, Sir,” Janet smiled, knowing that it was rare for the military man to let his guard down for anybody else but his team who were considered as close as family.  

Jack cared deeply about Daniel and the friendship was one that had seen them through a lot of battles.   She knew that Daniel was equally as thankful to have such a great friend as Jack O’Neill, even if they baited each other and fought like combative siblings most of the time.

It was when either of them was sick or injured that the other put aside their differences and was just there for the other, weathering each other through whatever storm presented itself both off-world and when back on Earth.

Janet was thankful to share a very strong friendship with Samantha Carter, but both of them had agreed on more than one occasion that they had rarely seen two best friends like Jack and Daniel.  

Both women were equally as grateful to have each of the men include them in their tight knit little family, that also included Teal’c, General Hammond and a few select members of other SGC personnel.

“Okay then, well I better go and check if Carter needs a hand,” Jack said, glancing back at Daniel who was watching them both, but neither of them thought he was following the conversation that was taking place in front of him.

“I will be back soon, Daniel,” Jack promised and left the infirmary with Teal’c.

* * *

“Right now, Daniel, let’s see if we can find out how to start making you feel a little better,” Janet said warmly as she turned her full attention back to her patient.

“Janet, can I take a shower first please?” he asked softly. 

It was the first coherent sentence that the young man had been able to string together since the gateroom.   He lifted his head expectantly, his hair hanging over his forehead a little as he looked up at her with tired eyes, giving a shy smile.

“I am not sure that is such a good idea at the moment, Daniel,” Janet said soothingly, trying to maintain some amount of professionalism but feeling her heart strings being tugged by his boyish charm.

She placed a hand on his arm, checking for the trembling that she had been able to detect earlier and was happy to feel that they had subsided completely.   This gave her a little hope that perhaps he had not received as much of a shock as first thought.

“Please?” Daniel pleaded.

“I still have to examine you post-mission and I will have some tests to run on you about the shock that you said you received,” Janet reminded him, taking the inside of his wrist again and counting his pulse.

She was pleased to note that it was at a nice steady pace once more.  Perhaps Daniel had been extremely fortunate on this occasion and just needed a little TLC.

“Any pain or headache?” she prompted, looking directly at him and wanting a straight answer.  

Whether it be because of his fatigue or something else, she found that the young man had very little energy reserves to put up his usual “brave” act of being fine and answered truthfully.

“Still a little dull ache in my head, but no pain,” Daniel gave in explanation.  “Just tired………..” he said before yawning, putting his hand over his mouth and his head drooping a little towards his chest once more.

“Are you going to be awake long enough to take a shower?” Janet prodded him in mirth.

Daniel just gave a small nod of his head and that was all it took for the usually tough physician to crumble and allow him his small request.

“Rebecca, can you make sure that everything is prepared in the private shower room for Doctor Jackson,” Janet asked.

“Right away, ma’am,” the stoutly nurse replied and hurried away to complete her task.

“When you are finished your shower, I want to complete those tests, Daniel,” Janet spoke, making sure she had some of his attention for his own good.

 “Even if you only received a small electric shock back on the ramp, I need to keep you under observation for a few hours and monitor your heart rate and other vital signs for any abnormality.”

“I don’t want to stay in the infirmary overnight,” Daniel tried to argue glumly, but regretting a little of how petulant his complaint may have sounded to Janet.  He just wanted to go home and sleep for a few hours.

“Let’s just take one step at a time shall we?” Janet responded, not wanting to pre-empt anything until she saw the test results. 

The nurse Rebecca had returned and informed Janet that everything was prepared and ready for Daniel.

“Watch him carefully from here to the shower room and remain outside the door,” Janet informed her staff member, being cautious without overbearing.  She had seen how unsteady he was when being brought here.

Daniel did seem to have made a miraculous and significant step forward since being led here to the infirmary, but experience told her to make sure first.  Especially with a special patient such as Daniel Jackson who came with his own set of rules when it came to illness and injuries and how to treat both and generally taking care of himself.

“When you finish your shower, I can begin the tests and we go from there,” she said, trying to perk up his spirits a little.  He did seem a little pre-occupied about something, but intuition told her that it may not be the shock that was causing his current level of docility.

“Let me know when Doctor Jackson is finished please,” she whispered.

The doctor left her patient in the good hands of the middle aged nurse and went to her office to take care of some other matters.

On any day, when he was feeling well, Daniel was one of the most gentle, caring men she had ever had the pleasure to meet.  He was completely different in personality to a lot of the marines that ruefully graced her infirmary with their boorish, brash and downright aggressive selves at times.

He came with his own fair share of secretiveness and mysteriousness and vulnerability that he often didn’t admit to, but portrayed regularly.   Sometimes she wished that there were more people in this world that saw things so passionately as he did.  But then again, that would take away the special-ness that was all Daniel Jackson.

* * *

Daniel forced himself to appear more alert and slowly made his way into the shower room, giving Nurse Rebecca a shy smile in appreciation and then closing the door behind him.

He adjusted the temperature of the water until it was fairly hot and steam filled the small cubicle, allowing it to swirl around him.  The hot water on his tired and aching muscles felt incredibly good and soothing.

As he leaned his head against the cooler tiles and stood under the massaging streams, his mind was taking him back to the meetings he had on the planet and the conversations that had bothered him the most.

To the untrained eye there had appeared to be nothing of consequence to report, and there certainly had been any direct demonstration of anything wrong or threatening.  Their manner had been more standoffish and aloof.

There were just odd subtle words or phrases though that at first appeared odd.  The language had been difficult to decipher and it had taken nearly the first full day to have any real grasp of being able to communicate sufficiently with the elders of the city.

_'We do not believe that the resources of an individual matter’_

_‘As a whole our nation seeks to renew itself’_

_'_ _Peace cannot always be achieved, even by those to desperately seek it’_

  _‘Weakness’_

_‘Divine Rule’_

The words and phrases becoming more consistent in his brain and not wanting to shut off.  He was tired and didn’t want to think anymore today, shutting off the water and quickly drying himself, hoping to shove the voices in his head back into his sub-conscious for a few hours.

Daniel was almost startled by a small tap on the door which brought him back to where he was.

“Doctor Jackson, are you alright in there?” Nurse Rebecca asked, having heard the water stop a few minutes earlier.

“Fine, thank you,” Daniel said as he opened up the door and exited.

“Doctor Jackson,” the nurse said, looking at his attire and frowning a little, thinking that Janet Fraiser was not going to be happy.

Daniel looked back at her calling to him, but wore a puzzled expression on his face at her questioning glances to his clothing.   He was wearing a standard black t-shirt and his army green uniform trousers. 

“I don’t think Doctor Fraiser meant for you to be dressed in your civilian clothes just yet, Daniel,” the Nurse pointed out, deciding to be direct.  She knew that Janet wanted to carry out some testing on the young man.

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” he said, placing an index finger to his lips and looking back her over the rim of his glasses.

Knowing that Fraiser was usually fairly strict about proper patient care whilst they were in her custody.   That usually correlated to patients wear hospital gowns until they were declared fit and discharged, Nurse Rebecca walked away thinking that she would let Janet argue with him,

* * *

“Doctor Jackson is ready for you, ma’am,” Rebecca informed Janet as she stood in the doorway of her office.

“Thank you, I will see him straight away,” Janet responded.  “Is he displaying any symptoms I should know about?” she asked, hoping to pick up on anything that Daniel might try to disguise.

“Um,” the nurse stammered at first, not knowing how to brooch the subject easily.   The staff of the infirmary knew that if there was one patient that Fraiser worried about more often, it was Doctor Jackson.

The man had a known medical history of injuries and allergies, but the young man’s gentle sweet disposition drew out the strong mothering syndrome in most of the nursing staff, including Janet.

“Let me guess, he is already demanding to go home,” Janet assumed with a knowing smile.   Daniel had already admitted to wanting to escape as soon as possible.

“Not exactly, but he is dressed in his normal clothes,” Rebecca stated, ready to assist Fraiser setting up the monitoring equipment that would be required.

“Oh is he now,” Janet smirked, “Well we will just have to disappoint the good Doctor Jackson for a few hours at least,” she added heading out into the infirmary.

* * *

In the few minutes that Nurse Rebecca and Janet Fraiser had been talking near her office, Daniel had sat back down on the bed designated as his and patiently waited for Janet to come.

He knew that he wouldn’t have to wait long before the petite red-headed Doctor would appear and begin her usual regime of tests.  She had said something about wanting to do some other testing, but his head was still thumping from the headache.

The hot water from the shower seemed to have aggravated it a little, to a more noticeable level and he rubbed tiredly at his eyes once more, the frames of his glasses lifting with the motions of his hand.

The bed that he was sitting in was the closest to the corner of the infirmary, and had always been an inside joke with various members of the SGC and nursing staff.  They all insisted that this was his bed when he had to be here.

It looked no different to any of the other lines of beds most days, but he did notice looking down now that there were two pillows at the head of the bed.  The bottom one firm and flat, the one on top, much fluffier and softer.

There was a blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed and the sheets felt nice and cool under his fingertips.  

The tiredness that he had been feeling before coming through the gateroom and before his shower began to roll over him again in large crashing waves. 

He barely realised that he was laying down instead of sitting up and the softness of the pillow was so inviting that he sighed audibly when his head sank gratefully into it.  The headache was still present, making him rub at his temples in a circular pattern, hoping to gain some relief.

Sleep beckoned and he could no longer resist the urge to let the swirling thoughts in his head fade away.  Daniel didn’t even feel his eyelids begin to flutter close.

* * *

Janet strode purposefully towards the bed, ready to do battle with Daniel about any of his pre-conceived ideas that he was going home immediately.    Nurse Rebecca was close behind, wheeling a heart monitor and various pieces of cabling that would be attached to the patient.

Fraiser was about to open her mouth and say something, but froze when the two of them spied the heart-warming site before them …………. Daniel laying on his side, his legs drawn up onto the bed and sleeping.

It seemed that any notions Daniel had about going home in the next couple of hours had been thwarted by his own body’s demand to rest.

She looked back at Rebecca and both of them had to smile at such a pleasing site.  Daniel portrayed the perfect picture of innocence as he slept.   The lines of his face smooth and relaxed.

Nurse Rebecca tiptoed as quietly as she could around the patient’s bed, hooking up the heart monitor to a power source whilst Janet did some brief assessing of the patient himself.  Both of them were loathe to wake him.

Janet gently removed the thin framed glasses from his face, carding one hand through his dampened hair and brushing it back off his face.  She used the back of the same hand against his cheek, surprised that he didn’t stir at her touch, but pleased to note that the skin felt warm and of a natural temperature.

One hand was laying silently outstretched beside his face and Rebecca carefully attached the small peg-like clamp electrode to his index finger that would relay all necessary information back to the heart monitor.

Janet knew she would have to extract a blood supply, and thought that Daniel may wake with the procedure, but cautiously noted that he had failed to react to any of their administrations.   Even the small pinprick from the needle point extracted only a brief pause in his steady breathing.

Rebecca reached over and turned the dimmer switch on the lights over the bed, giving the patient the chance to get as much rest as he needed without interruption.

Although she didn’t like the idea of Daniel sleeping in his clothes, she wasn’t about to disturb him now that he looked so comfortable and peaceful.

“That will do for now,” Janet whispered pulling the blanket from the bottom of the bed and spreading it over the slumbering form.  

They both stepped away from the bed, leaving Daniel to sleep.

“I want to monitor him for a few hours because of the electric shock, but the readings appear to be within the normal range so far,” Janet spoke.  “I also want hourly monitoring of his blood pressure, please.”

She would wait until Daniel was awake to complete any more of the post-mission procedures.

“I will let you know if anything changes, ma’am,” Rebecca replied.

 

 

* * *

About an hour after Janet had left her patient in the capable hands of Nurse Rebecca, Sam and Jack approached the infirmary, looking for any information on their friend’s condition.

Janet met them at the door, motioning for them to be very quiet before leading them over to the corner bed and pointing at the still sleeping Daniel with a satisfied smile.

“He must have been very tired, Janet, are you sure he is okay?” Sam asked looking at Daniel and smoothing out an invisible crease in the blanket.   

“Wore him out with your devious little tools did ya?” Jack inquired, pleased to see that his friend was safe and taken care of.

“General wanted to know when he might get some information out of him,” Jack stated casually.    He thought he had used a relatively quiet voice, but took a step back when both Sam and Janet turned on him and shushed him.

“Hey, I was just asking,” he said in his own defence, but stopped talking when Daniel gave a small sigh and turned his head on the pillow a little.   The two women glared at him again.

“He fell asleep before I could do much testing on him at all,” Janet offered in diagnosis, “but his pulse and breathing all appear to be much better now than they were in the gateroom.”

“Right now he is displaying the usual signs of fatigue, but no symptoms that could be attributed to receiving any kind of electrical shock.   He didn’t stir at all when I took the blood sample.”

“Maybe he didn’t really receive a shock on the ramp.  Perhaps he was just tired and confused after coming back through the gate,” Sam suggested in explanation.

Jack took two small steps closer to his friend, looking down as though making his own assessment of Daniel.    He went to reach out his hand towards the bed when it was vigorously slapped away.

“You wake him up, Colonel, and so help me,” Janet warned in a whisper, stepping closer to Jack to emphasis her intent to do him bodily harm if Daniel woke.

“We can come back later, Janet,” Sam said.  “I will let the General know that Daniel is getting some rest.”

“Sleep well, Daniel,” Sam said softly, giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead.

Janet and Sam shared a small laugh at the Colonel as he looked most perturbed that Carter was allowed to kiss Daniel, but he was threatened within an inch of his life for making any kind of sound or touching and making sure he was alright.

* * *

In the briefing room, Jack and Sam were meeting with Teal’c and General Hammond and giving what brief details they could about the negotiations on the planet.

“Doctor Fraiser thinks that Daniel may be just a little overworked and tired and not suffering from any kind of electrical shock from the ramp, Sir.  But she is keeping a close eye on him for the next couple of hours at least,” Carter reported to Hammond.

“That’s good news to hear, Major,” Hammond responded, relieved to know the young man wasn’t suffering any adverse affects.

“Indeed,” Teal’c commented, pleased to hear that his teammate was resting.

“She wants to keep him quiet and just let him sleep,” Carter added, giving Jack a sharp look as she spoke. 

“What!” Jack declared indignantly, “I wasn’t going to wake him up.”

“You almost did, Sir,” Carter accused lightly, which had him draw stern looks from both the General and Teal’c.

There were few occasions where Major Carter could be seen or heard pointing out any of O’Neill’s mistakes or indiscretions, but anything to do with Daniel Jackson was the obvious exception. 

Most staff on Cheyenne mountain were aware that Sam treated Daniel like a brother and was usually fussing about his health and general well-being.  She would take anyone to task who was seen to be disrupting his routine or bringing harm to him, including the Colonel.

Whilst not all the marines on the base understood the sibling like relationship between the two, and thought that Daniel was quite capable of handling himself in most situations, very few of them thought about crossing that line.

Carter had proven herself on more than one occasion of being the best combat soldier she could be and she had the skills to take on most of them in a good scrap.  A few of them secretly wished she would show them even the slightest amount of concern and unconditional friendship that she showered Daniel Jackson with.

Jack was about to say something else, but was pulled up by the General now speaking to all of them as a group.

“What can you tell me about what you experienced on the planet, Colonel?” Hammond asked, changing the focus of the conversation altogether as they sat around the large central table.

“Not much to tell, Sir,” Jack answered.  “They didn’t want the rest of us in the room when talking to Daniel.   None of us understood what was being said as usual.”

General Hammond smiled to himself a little, knowing that his second in command didn’t like it when he didn’t have all the information before him.   Jack was military trained and having all the facts was what he liked to achieve for any mission, but it wasn’t always possible.

“Did Doctor Jackson indicate any reasons as to why the elders of this city didn’t want to work in co-operation with us?” Hammond questioned.

“No Sir,” Carter responded, “That’s what was unusual about this whole mission.   Daniel worked harder than us all, but at night when he asked him about what they said, he clammed up.”

 “It does seem a little out of the ordinary for Doctor Jackson not to voice his concerns,” Hammond agreed.

 “General Hammond, I did enquire with Daniel Jackson on our way back to the gateroom, the reason for his concern,” Teal’c stated.

 “And what was his answer, Teal’c?” Hammond asked, knowing that the large man rarely spoke in de-briefings unless he felt it important.   Usually Major Carter or Colonel O’Neill would back up the more detailed outline from the archaeologist.

 “The word he used was _disturbed_ ” Teal’c said in a flat tone of voice.

 “Disturbed……….,” Hammond pondered, thinking it was a strong word to be using when describing potential new allies.

 “Well, I guess we all need to wait until Doctor Jackson has had a little more sleep and tells us his new theories about why the negotiations broke-down,” Hammond suggested.

 “If you don’t mind, Sir, I plan to go to control room and help oversee any necessary testing on the ramp in the gateroom,” Carter requested.  “With your permission of course?”

 “You have it, Major,” Hammond affirmed.  “Co-ordinate your efforts with Sergeant Siler.”

 “Jack and Teal’c keep me informed about Doctor Jackson whilst he is in the infirmary,” Hammond asked, getting up from the table and heading towards the door and his own office.

 “Sure youbetcha, Sir,” Jack said cheerfully.

 

* * *

 

A little over an hour later, Jack was leaving the commissary and heading towards the infirmary once more, bored out of his skull and wanting to check on Daniel again.  

He had met up with a number of other SGC members including Lou Ferretti, enjoying a leisurely cup of coffee and chatting about sports.

Word about Doctor Jackson being in the infirmary again after a mission had spread like wildfire, and Jack found himself having to assure all that Daniel was going to be just fine.

Daniel had little comprehension of just how many people at SGC admired him not just for his intellect, but were drawn to him because of his endearing nature.  Half of the female staff at the base had asked him out on at least one occasion and some had tried more than once.

Approaching the doorway quietly and looking out for any sign of Fraiser or her staff, Jack looked smug as he crept quietly over to the corner bed without being noticed. 

Daniel had rolled over onto his opposite side in the bed, with his face turned towards the wall and away from everybody else, the blanket having slipped down from his shoulders a little.

“Don’t want you to get cold in here, Daniel,” Jack whispered, pleased that his friend was still oblivious to his presence.  No doubt if he were awake, his friend would be protesting about the mother-hen treatment from everybody.

Jack prided himself on the ability to sneak up on most people undetected within the base.  Years of covert training coming in handy on many occasions.  What he hadn’t factored in was the ability of a much too large Jaffa warrior being able to make less noise than a mouse.

Jack went to put the blanket back over his slumbering friend, when a number of things happened all at once.

Firstly, the Colonel had failed to hear the approach of Teal’c from behind.

“You were advised not to wake Daniel Jackson, O’Neill.”

“Jeez, Teal’c!” Jack exclaimed loudly not having heard the Jaffa until it was too late.  Unfortunately when he had jumped at the larger man’s voice, he had inadvertently placed his hand on Daniel’s left shoulder, still holding the edge of the blanket and had accidentally dug his fingers in a little.

Daniel had been in a deep sleep but suddenly felt someone grip his shoulder tightly and he had startled badly, jumping up in fright at having awoken and still trying to work out where he was.  Someone had shouted loudly near his ear.

“What the……!”

Jack and Teal’c both looked with dismay at the sound of Daniel’s panicked shout, in time to see him sit up and scramble back against the head board as though expecting some sort of imminent attack.

Jack swallowed guiltily at the look on the tired face of his friend as Daniel looked back and tried to work out why he had just been scared half to death.  

The two of them watched him rub lightly at where he had felt the fingers gripping as he worked out who belonged to the voice and who had grabbed a hold of his shoulder, “Jack, what are you doing……….?” Daniel asked in a weary voice.

His glasses looked back at him from the bedside table, and he reached over and placed them back on his face, looking back at his alleged assailant and wanting to know what the emergency was.   He had no idea of how much time had passed since his shower.

“Sorry, Daniel, I didn’t mean to grab you like that, I was just pulling the blanket back up over you,” Jack explained in apology.

O’Neill was about to say something else when he heard the distinct sound of Janet Fraiser’s shoes approaching at a rapid pace at hearing one of her patients in distress and raised voices within her infirmary.

“Colonel O’Neill!” Janet protested a little too loudly, wincing herself as she realized that she too was disturbing Daniel’s sleep. 

“Sorry, Daniel,” Janet said, seeing the young man wave his hand in haphazard acknowledgement of her words, but watched as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes and began massaging his temple area again, indicating a headache.

“I didn’t mean to wake him, Fraiser,” Jack offered, knowing how lame it must have sounded.  “I was just putting the blanket back over him,” ducking a little behind Teal’c to ward of his impending punishment.

He finished by muttering under his breath about putting a bell on the much larger man first chance he got.   Ferretti would never let him hear the end of it when word got out.

For a moment, Janet looked back at the Colonel, and displayed a small smirk at the suggestion that Teal’c had been able to get the drop on him.

“Jack probably didn’t mean it, Janet,” Daniel said, looking up briefly, but continuing to rub his forehead at the dull throb.   “Hey Teal’c great to see you,” he greeted his second friend with his usual friendly manner.

Teal’c gave Daniel a small smile and bow of respect.

Fraiser’s scolding words soon withered under Daniel’s defence of his friend and her voice and eyes softened at his willingness to accept that his friend had merely been concerned about him.

“Teal’c take the Colonel out of here, please,” the doctor said, hoping to get her patient back to sleep quickly.

“And don’t think I will forget this, Colonel,” Fraiser forewarned, smiling like a Cheshire cat as she spoke.  “I haven’t completed your post-mission examination yet and plan to do so before you leave the mountain today.”

“Ouch, Jack!” Daniel said with a half amused grin, knowing what the doctor was planning.

“Yeah!” was the only response Jack could think of, a plethora of painful scenarios running through his head at what she might subject him too.

Teal’c and Janet shared a brief laugh at O’Neill’s moment of uneasiness, but noted that Daniel had fallen silent again.

“You going to be alright?” Jack asked Daniel as he felt Teal’c beginning to crowd around him, making him take a few retreating steps towards the door.

“Never better, thanks” Daniel replied, though nobody in the room was fooled by his statement.

* * *

Daniel and Janet both watched as Teal’c all but manhandled Jack out of the infirmary.

“How about you try and get some more sleep, Daniel?” Janet suggested, hoping he would just take her word on face value.  

“Yes, but I think it would be better in my own bed, don’t you?” he answered with a question of his own, looking back at Janet with a hopeful expression.  He pulled himself over towards the edge of the bed and prepared to stand.

Janet picked up the chart that was hanging on the end of the bed and silently read the readings and measurements that had been accumulated over the last two hours, looking for any reason to be concerned.

“You still have a headache,” she pointed out matter-of-factly, calling him on what she had seen over the past few minutes.  “But all of your other readings seem normal.  Your blood work hasn’t come back from the lab yet.”

“Yes, but I am sure that it would only take you a minute or two to make sure that there is nothing out of the ordinary in me,” Daniel challenged astutely without wanting to argue with the doctor.

“Please Janet, it’s been a long four days, I just want to get out of here and wind down for a while,” Daniel pleaded, his voice soft but expectant of an affirmative reply.

“Let me go and check on the blood work and I will come back.  You are already mostly dressed, but I want you to promise me that if I do let you go home, that you will take care of yourself and sleep.”

Half an hour later, after taking Daniel’s blood pressure for the final time and noting that the readings of the heart monitor still showed normal, healthy and strong readings, she released him.

Janet had offered some medication for his headache, but Daniel had told her that it wasn’t quite that bad.  He was wary to admit how bad it was throbbing at the moment, in case she changed her mind about allowing him to go home. 

Once he made it back to his apartment, he would be able to take a couple of aspirin, close the curtains and darken his bedroom and shut the world out and allow sleep to cure his aching head.

She had made him promise to make sure that he got home safely and avoided too much caffeine for the remainder of the day, reminding him that he wouldn’t be able to rest well with too much coffee in his system.

“I don’t want to see you back here before tomorrow morning for your debriefing with General Hammond, Daniel, after you have had a good night’s sleep,” she chastised lightly. 

“I just have one thing to do before I leave, and then I am out of here,” Daniel promised, not alerting further as to what he intended to do.

“Just don’t take any work home this evening, Daniel.  Any cultural revelations that you are going to make can be discovered tomorrow,” she said, knowing that the man was a known workaholic.

“Cross my heart,” the archaeologist said, making the action with his hands in front of her and giving her a genuine smile of gratitude.  “Thanks for everything.”

“All part of the service, Daniel,” she smiled back, watching him leave.   Janet made a note to herself to inform the General and the rest of his team of his intention to head home for some rest.

 

* * *

 

After escaping the infirmary and Janet’s ever watchful eye, Daniel headed to the locker room and grabbed out his jacket, getting ready to head home.

He didn’t understand why, but he had a strange urge to make a quick stop at the gateroom, which was what he had told Janet.  The young man vaguely remembered mentioning something about receiving an electric shock and that was why Fraiser had hovered around him. 

“Doctor Jackson,” Lou Ferretti greeted him as he walked into the room, surprised to see the archaeologist on his feet and dressed in civilian clothes.

“Hey, Lou,” Daniel said warmly as he put his arms through the sleeves of his jacket. 

“Just heading home,” he offered in explanation as he saw the questioning look on the Major’s face.

“Good to know, Doc.  Jack said you might have been spending more time in the infirmary.”

“Not if I can help it,” Daniel replied.  “See you tomorrow, Lou,” he said and gestured with a wave of his hand, exiting the room.

On his way to the gateroom, Daniel had forgotten all about Janet’s request of no caffeine, and grabbed a dark blue ceramic mug from the commissary, filled it and carried it with him, savouring the hot bitter taste on the back of his throat.

Upon reaching the gateroom and casually walking inside, Daniel was surprised to see all the yellow and black warning tape that had been erected around the bottom of the ramp.

“Wow, a bit of action happening in here,” he said quietly to Sergeant Siler who was standing with several technicians, watching some computer monitors.   There was a large array of various cables and equipment hooked up to the ramp and the railings.

He noted that the large security door on the opposite side of the gateroom was currently closed and most likely sealed, making the door he had walked through the only entrance and exit.

“Doctor Jackson?” Siler greeted the young man, as surprised as Major Ferretti to see Daniel walking through the door, holding his usual cup of coffee, his other hand casually hidden away in the pocket of his jacket.

“We have orders from General Hammond and Major Carter to make sure everything is safe before the next teams off-world are due to return,” he informed Daniel.

Siler was tempted to tell Daniel that he probably shouldn’t be in the gateroom either, especially when it had been assumed that he had been the casualty of the electrical spark in the first place.  But he didn’t voice his concern out loud. 

“Don’t worry Sergeant, on my best behaviour and promised Doctor Fraiser that I would head home very soon,” Daniel said as he saw the man’s almost apologetic expression.

Daniel seemed genuinely interested in what was happening, peering over his glasses at the readings on one of the monitors, but making sure that he kept out of the way of the technicians.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t pretend to know what most of the numbers indicated.  He was sure that Sam would know if she was here.  He had yet to look up and notice the audience gathered in the control room.

* * *

In the control room, just before Daniel walked in, General Hammond had entered to gather the latest report on the testing of the gateroom.

“General, Sir,” Davis saluted along with Major Carter and other staff present. 

“As you were people,” Hammond greeted them, returning their salutes, but focusing on what was appearing on the computer monitors before them.

“Colonel O’Neill,” the General said as Jack walked into the room followed closely by Teal’c.

“Doc Fraiser wanted me to inform you that Daniel was still sleeping…………,” he began to report when the Jaffa stopped him in mid-sentence.

“He is not, O’Neill,” Teal’c said in total seriousness.

Jack had hoped that the man would give him a little lee-way and not throw him to the wolves, but obviously knew now that it would not be the case.

“Not, Teal’c?” Sam picked up much too quickly for Jack’s liking.  Her blue eyes turning towards her commanding officer and silently demanding further explanation.

“Daniel Jackson was sleeping adequately, Major Carter, that was until O’Neill sought to disturb his rest,” Teal’c explained.

“You woke him up again, Sir?” Carter asked incredulously, a little shocked as much as the other people in the control room, including General Hammond.

“Janet Fraiser was not pleased to hear Daniel Jackson cry out in alarm and awaken when O’Neill grabbed him without warning,” Teal’c continued.

Jack hung his head a little, knowing that there would be no reprieve for him.   He looked back at Hammond, seeing the ‘what did you do’ look and tried to defend his actions as he had done with Janet.

”It would have been alright if you hadn’t snuck up behind me, Teal’c,” O’Neill declared hotly, trying to deflect some of the blame.

“I did nothing, O’Neill.”

The people in the control room watched the conversation unfold between the two teammates, knowing they would soon find out most of what had transpired in the infirmary.

“He was sleeping okay, I just walked in there and made sure that he wasn’t getting cold,” he said, not noticing a few sly smirks at his admittance of worrying over his best friend.  None of them were quite so brave or as willing to mention it to his face however.

“I merely reminded you that you were supposed to be quiet,” Teal’c recounted.

“Yeah, and made me jump about six foot in the air,” O’Neill shot back before he realized what he was saying.

“O’Neill reached out and grabbed a hold of Daniel Jackson without warning,” Teal’c told them.  “And at the same time, yelled out loudly above his bed.”

Sam Carter and General Hammond now sighed inwardly, seeing how one event had led to another, and spiraled out of control of all involved.

“I am sure Janet was less than happy with you, Sir” Carter said with a small amount of sympathy creeping into her voice, knowing that the Colonel would have Daniel’s best interests at heart.

“Daniel must have been pretty mad too,” she added, thinking of what her friend’s reaction would have been to being grabbed and yelled out with little warning.

“Yes she was, Sam,” Fraiser agreed as she walked into the Control room, making everyone turn at the new voice.   “I am afraid I was a little too loud for Daniel too.”

“Daniel was a little more forgiving than most at having been woken up like that, but I think he was pretty much out of it still anyway.  He had only been asleep a short time,” Janet relayed.

“General Hammond, I came to tell you that I have instructed Daniel to get some more rest and released him from the infirmary.  He promised me he was headed home for the rest of today,” Fraiser informed.

“Thank you, Doctor Fraiser,” Hammond responded, satisfied that an amicable compromise had been reached between them both.

“You checked him out first right though?” Jack asked, surprised that Janet wasn’t insisting he stay.  She had indicated earlier that Daniel needed to have a few more tests.

“As soon as you are finished your duties here, I will be seeing each of you in my infirmary to complete your own post-mission examinations,” the doctor told them, not intending for them to argue about it.

“Other than admitting to a headache, and not being able to get any restful sleep yet,” Janet said, eyeballing Jack with that particular comment, “Daniel is just fine and hopefully on his way home by now.  All his tests came out normally and I can’t see a reason to keep him here.”

Whilst still listening to Janet’s detailed report on Daniel, Jack found himself wandering over closer to the large view window of the control room.  He quietly looked down and took note of what was going on within the gateroom, and smiled to himself as he recognized a familiar face amongst the technicians.

“Um, Doc, where did you say he was again exactly?” Jack asked with a smug tone to his voice, pointing to the window, making the others take a look.

 _‘Dannyboy you are playing with fire.’_ he thought to himself with a grin.

“Tell me Teal’c, who do you see down there?” Jack queried, quite pleased with himself that Janet’s needles of torture were quickly changing direction from his butt and headed for Daniel instead.

“I see Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c answered truthfully.

“What!” Janet Fraiser said, scrambling to look for herself.   “And what exactly is that mug doing in his hand,” she said to nobody in particular with a touch of exasperation in her voice.

“Does that man ever listen to me?” Janet said, concerned more than angry at the young man.   But her determined speech was halted by General Hammond talking over the loud speaker system down to the people gathered in the gateroom.

“Doctor Jackson, nice to see you on your feet again, son,” he said, leaving any harsher comments about taking care of himself to Janet Fraiser.

“Thank you, General, Sir,” Daniel replied though the microphone, giving a quick wave to the control room. “Don’t worry about me, I am fine.”

 “Just on my way home, but wanted to check that everybody here was safe first.”

* * *

 Before they could speak further, Daniel walked away from the microphone and walked directly towards the bottom of the ramp, his gaze seemingly fixated on the iris.

 “What is he doing?” Sam asked quietly, but everybody else in the control thinking exactly the same question.  There was something about his deliberate body language that made them all take notice, including Sergeant Siler and the technicians standing nearby.

“Doctor Jackson?” Siler asked, seeing a complete change to the young man’s demeanour from a few minutes ago.

“Are you alright, Daniel?” the sergeant queried, reaching out and trying to gain his attention.

All of a sudden Daniel twisted and whirled away from Siler and the technicians, taking two giant steps backwards and losing hold of the mug in his hand.

To everybody else watching, it was like watching in slow motion as the almost full mug fell and then shattered on the concrete floor, splattering over Daniel’s shoes and the bottom of his trousers.

Daniel though hadn’t taken his eyes of the iris, oblivious even to the noise of the mug breaking, his hands lifting to in front his open mouth and his face growing paler with each passing second.

“Sergeant I am coming down there,” Janet Fraiser announced over the speakers, thinking that something was happening to Daniel.   She couldn’t see his face up close, but his mannerisms and strange behaviour were ringing alarm bells loudly enough.

Before Janet could take any steps though, the next sound they all heard was the panicked shouting from the archaeologist.

“Daniel, what is going on down there?” Sam asked, hearing her friend’s frightened voice.  She exchanged growing worried voices with all in the control room at what might be causing such a sudden shift in mood.

It was not only the volume of Daniel’s voice but the underlying tones of outright fear on his face that had Sergeant Siler motion to the technicians to do what Doctor Jackson was telling them.

It was very rare for Daniel to raise his voice ever and certainly not to SGC staff unless there was a damn good reason.   Even when there had been some hairy moments in the past year or two, Daniel was known for usually portraying a composed exterior when others did not.

They had all started slowly tracking towards the doorway, convinced that Daniel was somehow able to sense something about to happen that they couldn’t.

“GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” he yelled, pushing Sergeant Siler towards the doorway, still keeping most of his attention on the Stargate.

“RUN!” Daniel emphasized.

As Daniel neared the doorway himself, he found himself literally picked up and thrown backwards approximately ten metres, dumped on his back hard enough to have him gasping in surprise.

The archaeologist got gingerly to his feet, and saw Sergeant Siler ready to re-enter the gateroom to help him escape, but without warning, the same unseen forced that assaulted Daniel, pushed Siler and the technicians out the other side of the doorway.

The large steel doorway to the gateroom began to close, ready to trap Daniel on his own.  The young man saw what was about to happen and scrambled to his knees as best he could.

“DANIEL!” Jack shouted as all those in the control room saw their friend tossed like a paperweight for a second time.

“General I can’t get the door to unlock from this side,” Siler shouted through the speaker system on the wrong side of the gateroom door.  “Something is jamming the manual override.  I can’t get to Doctor Jackson.”

“Major, set these controls to manual override,” the General ordered quickly, getting ready to enter the necessary double command into the computer system.

“The system has locked us out, Sir,” Carter cried out in alarm.  “We have lost all automatic and manual controls.   Something is taking over our own system.”

The surveillance system for the gateroom that was showing on various monitors suspended from the ceiling, sudden switched off, leaving only screens of snowy pixels and static.

As if to verify her concerns even further, the blast shield began to descend effectively cutting off any view they had of the gateroom and Daniel’s fate.

“I can’t get the shields to lift up either, Sir,” Davis informed the General, knowing it wasn’t what everyone wanted to hear.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!” Daniel yelled into the speaker system.

“Screw this, come on Teal’c,” Jack ordered in a dangerously low voice, headed towards the stairs and ready to use brute force to get the doors open and get to Daniel.

General Hammond was already on the phone ordering a security detail to the gateroom and a team to help cut into the door if it became necessary.  It might take a little longer to reach Daniel with such a crude method, but right now it was about their only option with all other systems virtually inoperable.

Jack was halfway down the stairs with Teal’c when the distinct sound of the klaxon alarms and sirens began blaring loudly overhead.

“Unauthorized Off-world activation,” came the announcement from Davis.  “Incoming Traveller…….I repeat……… incoming traveler.”

Jack and Teal’c hurried as fast as they could to the gateroom door, impatiently waiting for the oxy-cutting team to arrive.

“Daniel can you hear me?” Jack said into the intercom.

“J-Jack………,” came the crackled reply. 

Jack visibly sighed in relief at least being able to hear his friend.

“They are c-coming J-Jack……… got to g-get out of h-here.”

“Who is coming Daniel?  Who?” Jack shouted but received no further reply.

Somehow Daniel had been able to sense someone trying to come through the Stargate without being detected, but now he was trapped in there with whoever or whatever the threat was.

“Colonel, I tried to get the door to open, but something pushed me back before I could get to Daniel,” Siler said, hoping that O’Neill wouldn’t blame him personally for anything happening to one of the most important people to the Stargate programme.

Jack nodded his head in acknowledgement, looking at Teal’c and trying to think of a way to get the door open quickly.   He was trying to hear any sounds from behind the door, but the thickness of the door prevented them from hearing anything for the moment.

 

* * *

 

“Sergeant there is nothing showing on our systems up here except for the alarms,” Hammond pointed out with his own fear growing. 

“Nothing is showing on our computer screens, Sir,” Carter affirmed, “But with the surveillance cameras out of action we can’t even tell what is coming through,” she said, genuinely worried about her teammate.

“Are we able to tell if the Iris is still intact, Major?” Hammond asked.

“Iris is still showing as holding, Sir,” Sam answered, rechecking the limited systems they were able to see.  They had no way of accessing these controls, only seeing what was being displayed.

“Maybe it is a false alarm?” Sergeant Davis, trying to think of why the klaxon’s would go off without any real valid threat presenting itself.

General Hammond looked towards Major Carter for any chance that what Davis was saying might be true, but the fear and worry that was reflected in her eyes quickly quashed any chance of it being so.

The fact that Daniel Jackson was the person trapped in the gateroom only signified further that something was dreadfully wrong.  The young man was a trouble magnet at the best of times off-world, but it only served to make them all more nervous when they were unable to help him on their own base.

Janet Fraiser had reported back that the blast shield covering the large thick window of the briefing room was also lowered and impenetrable at the moment.  They were effectively blind to everything that was going on in the gateroom to Daniel Jackson.

“Have your medical team ready and standing by for anything, Doctor,” the General ordered, not knowing whether they would be waiting minutes or hours to reach the young man.

 Major Carter had already tried a number of times to talk to him, and had been thankful that Jack had reported back limited success in being able to reach Daniel downstairs.

 Jack had repeated Daniel’s short and vague warning, but confirmed that he could no longer get his friend to respond further to his calls through the intercom system either.

 The loud speaker system crackled with static again, allowing those standing in the control room and those standing outside the entrance door to hear Daniel’s panicked and fearful voice.

 “I CAN”T DO THAT AGAIN!  NO!”

 “NO!  GET AWAY FROM ME!” Daniel shouted.

 “NO YOU CAN”T DO THAT!  NO NO STOP!”

 “LET ME GO!  LET ME GO!” he screamed in absolute fear.

  

to be continued…………………..


	2. Singled Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The latest mission through the Stargate seems to have come up with no treaty with the inhabitants for mineral rights or any other kind of agreement. But meeting with these new people will bring about events and troubles that none were about to foresee nor prevent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: The whole idea of Daniel being able to hear and see people that no one else can is certainly not a new one, and one of my favourite episodes is “Lifeboat” – but this story happens well before any of that happening to our team.
> 
> Thanks for all those who are still continuing to read. Always love to hear what people think of my writing.
> 
> From this chapter on, some of the scenes will deal with how I thought Daniel would have felt, reacted or dealt with certain events from episodes up until before “Forever In A Day”.
> 
> The whole concept from here on is that Daniel has suppressed a lot of what he was feeling at different times, happiness, sadness, anger and the whole spectrum of emotions, but never told his team or anyone else.
> 
> I know this concept is not an unusual one about Daniel hiding his true feelings, but there were a lot of episodes that I felt never addressed or completed scenes enough for me. I do believe that the character himself Daniel although strong and independent, uses defence mechanisms that he has taught himself over many years.
> 
> Seeing as how this is a trilogy of some sorts, I intend for this concept to follow onto the other two stories that follow “Deadly Cycle” and “Dishonest Intentions”
> 
> In this chapter in particular, I encroach on spoilers for quite a few episodes including, Broca Divide, Need, but in particular Fire and Water and Legacy. 
> 
> In particular, Janet Fraiser and the team never found out about how much pain Daniel experienced from the machine used on Nem’s planet or what he was going through when they thought he was dead.
> 
> I also had this idea, that before and after Sha’re’s death, that Daniel would often find comfort in talking to her, as well as when he feels most alone or in pain. This will happen at various stages, but not all the time. It will be in the form of talking out loud, thinking, writing in his journal, talking on a tape recorder, laptop or computer. Just my thoughts of the one person he might turn to when there was no one else left.
> 
> now what is happening in that Gateroom ???: taken from Daniel’s point of view whilst standing talking to Siler:

**_Chapter Two:  Singled Out_ **

Upon reaching the gateroom and casually walking inside, Daniel was surprised to see all the yellow and black warning tape that had been erected around the bottom of the ramp.

Jackson cautiously took a step into the large space, watching for any cabling or other obstacle that may impede his path.  There were a number of ladders set up in place on either side of the gate itself. 

Sometimes it was necessary to use a small mobile crane to lift a workman up high enough to each the higher arcs of the large naquadah structure.

Standing this close to it, the awe filling experience began anew.  With frequent missions of going through it, one could be easily be accused of complacency or losing the thrill.  But for Daniel, that never happened.  It had been a source of wonder when he had first laid eyes on it.

He didn’t get to stand here silently and stop to absorb the detail this closely very often, when he wasn’t walking through the center.  He was far enough away in feet to be aware of its size and dominating presence.  But near enough to be challenged and inspired by it.

Looking at each symbol individually, Daniel had worked out quite some time ago that they still didn’t fully comprehend what they had control of.  How infinite the possibilities could be or how many peoples or galaxies could be found. 

A jigsaw with all the pieces, but putting them in the correct sequence had already proven to be one of their greatest chances at salvation and exploration.  He also never lost sight how staggering the ramifications could be in the wrong hands or simply due to human error and technological imbalance.  He was fortunate to be one of the few who were under no illusion and grasped that it could bring about their biggest downfall.

Sure there were times when it seemed like the tool for their imminent destruction and the elimination of every living thing on this earth if you thought of System Lords.  Plenty of alien civilizations that thought the human race were too young and primitive to help.  An indefinite number of worlds that they had yet to encounter or meet.

Above all, the Star-Gate to Daniel had become a teacher. Of both good and bad not just within the human race, but within one’s own mind and soul.  A teacher who drew from one a great sense of achievement or accomplishment when a mission was successful and a new people’s discovered.

A teacher who sought to give a lesson in humility, greed and the full impact of wasteful ignorance and intolerance.   When it wanted to, the Star-Gate could extract a high price in consequence.

The metallic clunking of a tool broke Daniel from his own thoughts, forgetting momentarily about the mug of coffee that he was holding.  He had made a mental note to himself to let his team know that he had been released by Janet from the infirmary before he left the mountain.

Fraiser had already kindly offered to inform the General of his departure and the need to delay any briefing of the last mission until tomorrow.  He felt a little guilty about that, but tired and headachy and was grateful for the small doctor’s insistence on this occasion.

Daniel knew that he would have to find his team before he left for home.  All of them knew he had been in the infirmary for at least some follow-up tests and would be wondering about him.

Jack, he knew, had already been in the infirmary at least once, along with Teal’c.  Janet had stopped short of tossing the Colonel out on his military ass of her domain for disturbing the peace.   No doubt though he would be back at some point, despite her warning.

Being part of a little tight knit, if not odd-ball family was rather nice for Daniel, though he didn’t openly admit to it.  He felt and appreciated their support and friendship on a number of levels.   

The naturally shy man made a point to watch out for the select few who had made it into his inner circle of closeness.  Family was important;  just a term and state of existence that had eluded him for most of his childhood and a lot of years up until this point.  Daniel made sure that he was thankful for small rewards.

“Wow, a bit of action happening in here,” he said quietly to Sergeant Siler who was standing with several technicians, watching some computer monitors.   There was a large array of various cables and equipment hooked up to the ramp and the railings.

Daniel mentally counted three technicians with Siler, gesturing ‘Hello’ with his hand as he spoke the greeting.   Two out of the three were inferring with each other over some readout, whilst the third was watching one of the computer screens.

He noted that the large security door on the opposite side of the gateroom was currently closed and most likely sealed, making the door he had walked through the only entrance and exit.

“Doctor Jackson?” Siler greeted the young man, as surprised as Major Ferretti to see Daniel walking through the door, holding his usual cup of coffee, his other hand casually hidden away in the pocket of his jacket.

Siler liked Doctor Jackson, someone who didn’t forget the hardworking teams in the background at the SGC.  Daniel was someone who was aware of almost every staff member and made an effort to talk to them, when often other higher ranking military personnel forgot or overlooked their integral contribution to the scheme.

“We have orders from General Hammond and Major Carter to make sure everything is safe before the next teams off-world are due to return,” he informed Daniel.

“Probably a wise precaution,” Jackson agreed.  Hammond took his responsibility to the teams working at the SGC seriously and rarely swayed from that strong sense of leadership.

The bespectacled tall sergeant had heard on the commissary grapevine that Doctor Jackson was thought to have been injured returning from the last mission.

Siler was tempted to tell Daniel that he probably shouldn’t be in the gateroom either, especially when he and others had learned that the good doctor had been taken to the infirmary.  It had circulated that the civilian had been the casualty of the electrical spark in the first place that they were trying to test for. 

Whilst he didn’t exactly voice his concern out loud, he could be seen slightly rocking from one foot to the other.  The man was relieved to see the archaeologist astute enough to work out what went unspoken.

“Don’t worry Sergeant, on my best behaviour and promised Doctor Fraiser that I would head home very soon,” Daniel said giving a small smile as he saw the man’s almost apologetic expression.

To Siler, Daniel seemed genuinely interested in what was happening, peering over his glasses at the readings on one of the monitors, but making sure that he kept out of the way of the technicians.

Unfortunately, Jackson couldn’t pretend to know what most of the numbers indicated.  He was sure that Sam would know if she was here.  He had yet to look up and notice the audience gathered in the control room.

**_On the other side of the Stargate:_ **

A group of four people made their way along a similar path to the one SG-1 had taken the day before to return through the Star-Gate.

They called themselves the Utarians, their name meaning “One Race”. 

Two guards wore clothing which was deemed necessary by their place.  A strong but flexible armour over their upper limbs and torso areas.  They didn’t appear to be carrying weapons, but their focus and features were poised only on their task at hand.  Escorts to the two.

These people strode with purpose and grandeur, a stiffness to their backs and a straightness in their limbs that oozed rigidity.  Their pace was consistent and almost demanding.

“Forgive me Vice-Chancellor Logatue, but I must ask what is it that you intend to do once we have reached these T’auri?”

There were no actual words spoken between them.  Their thoughts exchanged by sensory and non-verbal communication.  They could speak using vocal cords if the need arose, but their culture and civilization had thrived for thousands of years by improving their subconscious abilities.

The abilities had caused their race to not only become more adept at communication through this method; but also to  experiment using of powers to persuade other life forms.   Eventually these attributes had been bred into their own genetic makeup so that now, each generation was automatically born with these characteristics.  

Through demonstration and instruction, each individual was taught how to use their abilities to maximum potential.

On their own, each person within the society was strong in themselves and with time their powers grew for the benefit of all.

Apart from being able to communicate with each other without the need for speech, the more prominent ability was that they were able to manipulate both body and mind in many races.  A difficult skill to master in some, depending on how intelligent each specimen was.

Quite often, being able to control the mind took much more effort than the physical bodies.  Some life forms were easily taken over, but others had proven more difficult and in some rare cases, the addition of other control methods were required.

There were those employed within their cities to carry out the research of these new and additional methods.  Significant progress had been made in some areas and how best to enhance and harness these abilities.

Utarians saw themselves as a strong race, one that rarely needed to use force on another life form.  But they were a  proud people too and did not back down to any enemy that had threatened their culture and lifestyle.   If needed, they were prepared to defend or achieve their goals with deadly force. 

It was also possible for them to be able to join their powers together, magnifying the effect and bringing about a much larger result.  Together as a race, they had faced many challenges throughout the millennia and achieved great triumph according to their scrolls and recorded history.

Now, however, they were facing dangers once more, perhaps the greatest that had ever plagued their race.  One that threatened their very existence and failure was not an option.   They would be victorious and decisive in their actions, swift and unwavering from their task, no matter what the consequences.

When the leaders had talked to the T’auri, they had freely given their philosophy on how a society must work as a whole to achieve benefits for all of their race.   They efforts, lives and possessions were deemed as given willingly to the cause so that their race prospered and continued to survive.

The question came from a humanoid advisor that SG-1 had encountered on their last mission.   Rogyli was tall as was the custom for the people of his race.  His two eyes were a little larger proportionately to rest of his pale features. 

The sleeves and hems of their garments were long and of clean lines, but the fabric was strong and versatile.  The colour was washed out, almost blending in with the lack of pigment to their skin.

Daniel Jackson had been gracious and respectful enough with manners to mention how nervous he had been about their outer appearance.  He had been polite and mindful of their body language and gestures as he spoke with them. 

Logatue had taken careful mental notes of the scholar’s mannerisms and words, but had not made mention of the nervousness that he had been able to feel emanating from the young human.

The same could not be said about their leader, Colonel O’Neill whose face had remained blank and expressionless. Unfortunately the same could not have been said about his posture and sharp tongue.  He had almost let out a rude comment before the Vice-Chancellor had seen him cut off by an intense disapproving look by the scholar.

The female with an unusual shade of hair had not made any comment, not could Logatue determine her thoughts or state of mind.  He was unsure of the reason for this, but had felt much resistance from her mind.  Maybe she was inferior like the females of other races that Utarians had encountered. 

The larger Jaffa warrior was the same, but he had encountered problems in trying to manipulate this race before and had not been successful.  In the beginning, the choice of who they would choose had been a process of elimination rather than outright selection.

After days of what had been deemed “negotiations” though, Logatue had determined that the scholar was the only one they could use out of the group.  His mind was like no other, quick and decisive, but at the same time, full of fascination and wonder.

The volume and diversity of knowledge was astounding and it was doubtful he had encountered a species with quite that level of intelligence in the last century.  The T’auri were different in so many ways to other races, and their individuality was not something they had expected nor particularly welcomed. 

Logatue knew that his race of Utarians were a people who believed in a strict ritualistic society, lived according to the teachings of their scrolls and ancestors.  Like those who had ruled before him, he reigned over the population unchallenged and with an unforgiving hand.   

To all Utarians, their purpose was to provide everything that the population needed to survive.  No one individual was deemed more important than any other.   And the as Vice-Chancellor, he ruled supreme.

Logatue had broached these subjected skillfully with the young scholar, giving details, but not elaborating when asked direct questions or when a more defined response was sought.  He certainly didn’t uphold the same value system as Daniel Jackson, but nor did he wish to deny that their meeting may provide a solution to his planet and people.

The young scholar appeared to have a different view of his environment and beliefs than the other members of his group.   Which is why Logatue separated him from the others during their discussions.  He needed time to access the young man’s mind without drawing attention to what he was doing.

While his efforts had not been in vain, he had not had sufficient time to explore all of the possibilities.  This would take time and draw too much suspicion.  From the first probe he had made of Daniel Jackson’s mind, he had come to the conclusion that the human brain and psyche was a fragile one and could be easily damaged.

From the beginning, Rogyli had been skeptical about the Vice-Chancellor’s theories about these people.  He had openly scowled at the brash and daring leader that showed no respect.   He had sensed the man’s anger though and agreed that they had to be cautious.

The military leader had openly objected to their teammate being kept segregated from them, and all had displayed a tendency to protect the scholar from any perceived threat.   The young human seemed unaware of their collective efforts to ensure safety, or if he did know, he did not openly chastise them.

Logatue’s inability to probe the woman and the Jaffa was most disturbing and he didn’t quite know what to make of it.  He had not seen anybody able to deflect the Vice-Chancellor’s powers for a very long time.

And when it came to the scholar, Rogyli had to hold his tongue about Logatue’s belief that this young T’auri was the key to their survival and salvation.   He had wanted to use other methods straight away, especially since they had been successful in keeping him from his team.  He did not see the need nor agree to delay or the reason for taking this more subtle approach.  

Logatue had already discovered his advisor’s strong dislike of the humans from earth, although he had forbidden any act which may reveal their true intentions.  Rogyli was impatient and known to be harsh in judgment of anybody who was not Utarian.

“Patience, Rogyli, we must reach the Circle of Stone and then we will be able to proceed.”

“I do not wish any disrespect, Lord, but how can you be so certain that this human has the answers that we desperately seek?”

“You do yourself a great disservice already Rogyli by lying to me,” Logatue chastised lightly.  “I have observed your scowl at the leader of their group.   You showed no favour to the Jaffa or woman either.”

“These T’auri are weak, my Lord,” Rogyali voiced vehemently.

“I think you forget whom you are addressing,” Logatue demanded, his own temper beginning to rise to the insolent outburst.  His eyes flared with the demand for obedience.

“Forgive me, my Lord,” Rogyali bowed low, taking a few steps backwards in apology.

The Utarian leader could see that they were only a short distance now from the Circle of Stone.  

“I don’t disagree with your statement of weakness,” the Chancellor started to explain, “But my connection with the mind of Daniel Jackson, if only for a short time, proved to me that this planet is where we should seek answers.”

“This Daniel Jackson is that special?” Rogyli scoffed, unable to hide his displeasure.  “He was very pleasing to look at, yes.  And I have not seen eyes like his on any other specimen.   It may take someone strong to reign in the spirit and fire within him.”

The Vice-Chancellor gave a knowing gesture of the interest his advisor had shown in the young human for his physical beauty.  “The woman was to your liking too I think.”

“Perhaps she would make a worthy trophy for one of my lower staff.   But I spit on their leader and the Jaffa.”

“You may get your chance yet with the young male human, but for now, it is most important that we acquire what need from his mind, not his body.”

“I have already ensured that we will arrive at the correct world from the Circle of Stone.  We need only to separate this Daniel Jackson from the others once more, but for a longer period of time to gain access to his subconscious memories,” Logatue continued.

“I have brought the serum as requested and the tools with which to successfully administer it,” Rogyli informed his leader.  “We cannot be sure that it will work on this human.”

“No.  From what I can tell of their physiology, it may take up to three or four days to infiltrate with his brain and body enough to allow us access,” Logatue stated.

“What shall we do if it is not successful?” Rogyli questioned.  “I could have taken him out of the city whilst he was on our world and carried out the necessary treatment and procedure without intrusion or interruption.”

“Yes you could have, but it would have brought too much attention to the ways of our ancestors, and I cannot permit that, no matter how strong the temptation was.  For now, I cannot allow the young human to learn of our history and what now threatens our future.”

“Do you really think he could have discovered those secrets?  I have known of no one who could ready or write the script of the great ancestors since the time of your father,” Rogyli pointed out.

“Yes, but you didn’t see into this young human’s mind like I did, Rogyli.   He has already admitted to being a scholar and of the written language.   In his mind there is much knowledge of other cultures and races, that much I have learned.”

“This is what you hope to acquire from him as our time grows more desperate?”

“Yes, I do believe so.  If this serum I have had prepared does not work, then I will agree to some of the other stronger methods that you suggested.” 

“Yes, my Lord,” Rogyli bowed out of respect one more, a grim smile appearing on his face at the pleasure of having the young human in his custody once more.

Logatue paused now beside the small stone structure that would allow the Circle of Stone to come alive.  Before activating the symbols, he addressed both his advisor and the two guards.

“No doubt these T’auri will defend this young human once we enter the Circle of Stone.  I have taken steps to ensure that he will be waiting for our appearance.  We only need to subdue him for a short time and administer the serum.”

“I have already made some preparations with information from his mind to ensure full submission and co-operation.”

“He will resist, but we cannot risk significant damage to him until we are certain that the serum will have the desired effect.  I will be able to determine that we have returned to our own world and made the connection with his mind.  The serum should ensure that he is made pliable and co-operative.”

“Once the serum has been given, we will make our escape through the Circle of Stone until it has had a chance to work.  The young human will feel pain, but it will take time for it to work through his body before being useful,” the Vice-Chancellor relayed.

The two guards nodded their heads in acknowledgement of their instructions. 

“Let us begin,” the leader ordered as he and Rogyli closed their eyes and concentrated their energies and thoughts on opening the gateway to the T’auri home world.

* * *

Daniel Jackson was still peering at one of the monitors in the room when the speaker system overhead came to life.  He recognized the voice to be that of General Hammond, and cautiously looked upwards.

Sergeant Siler had already snapped to attention as had the technicians within the room at the General’s voice.  It was a little difficult to make out all of the faces in the control room from Level 28.

“Doctor Jackson, nice to see you on your feet again, son,” Hammond said, sounding genuinely pleased the young man.

Siler was aware of how highly the General regarded the well-mannered archaeologist not to mention most everyone else within Cheyenne Mountain.

Jackson walked over to the speaker located on the back wall and pressed the switch that would enable him to be heard within the control room.

“Thank you, General, Sir,” Daniel replied though the microphone, giving a quick wave upwards to the control room. “Don’t worry about me, I am fine.”

“Just on my way home, but wanted to check that everybody here was safe first.”

As he briefly looked over and the technicians and Sergeant Siler, Doctor Jackson noted that his companions had yet to sense any danger approaching.   Level 28 became deadly silent, as if a vacuum had muffled all the noise.  Daniel used his free hand to rub at his ear briefly, thinking that something was wrong with his hearing.

But it was neither electrical noise nor that of any other recognizable sound that made Daniel walk towards and then stand perfectly still at the bottom of the ramp.   All at once, his senses were alerted to some unknown threat that seemed to be coming towards them from the other side of the Stargate. 

Before they could speak further, Daniel walked away from the microphone and walked directly towards the bottom of the ramp, his gaze seemingly fixated on the iris.

Daniel was unaware of the confused and concerned gathering of people observing from the control room.  Describing the foreboding feeling that crept up on him was impossible even if he could find the correct words. 

“Doctor Jackson?” Siler asked, seeing a complete change to the young man’s demeanour from a few minutes ago.

The man’s body language was completely different now to the relaxed signs that he had displayed a few moments ago.  Daniel’s back was now straight and inflexible, one arm stiffed by his side and his shoulders taunt with tension.

Daniel shivered violently as though someone’s icy cold hand had run down the back of his spine.  He wanted to pull his jacket around his shoulders tighter as if the drop in temperature was atmospheric.   Unfortunately, it was not, and the man’s brow turned into a slight frown, as he stared directly towards the Stargate a few metres up the ramp.

“Are you alright, Daniel?” the sergeant queried, reaching out and trying to gain his attention, hoping that his uncommon use of the man’s first name might being about a response.

Siler put aside the tools he had in his hands as he noticed the hesitant, almost timid steps backwards from Daniel.   He followed the young man’s line of sight, curious to know what kept such avid attention.  He gestured for the technicians that something was wrong and to be ready for anything.

The most plausible explanation that sprung to mind was that Doctor Jackson wasn’t as well as he had stated, and really needed to head back to the infirmary.  Siler even noted the tense, white knuckled grip that the archaeologist maintained around the handle of his dark blue mug of coffee.

The man bowed his head for a moment, his eyes were closed and his lips pouted as if mumbling a small word or two.     For Daniel himself, it seemed that the Stargate was almost becoming an entity all of its own.   He knew how incredulous it seemed, but for a brief second, the he would have sworn that he felt like the structure had an invisible energy attached to it.

Just when he tried to berate himself for being foolish, he thought he heard a voice call out.  Daniel jerked his head up violently at the voice he thought he could hear in the distance.  It grew closer and closer, but continued to call out as though a beacon. 

“Hear me, young T’auri.”

All of a sudden Daniel twisted and whirled away from Siler and the technicians, taking two giant steps backwards and losing hold of the mug in his hand.

To everybody else watching, it was like watching in slow motion as the almost full mug fell and then shattered on the concrete floor, splattering over Daniel’s shoes and the bottom of his trousers.

Daniel though hadn’t taken his eyes of the iris, oblivious even to the noise of the mug breaking, his hands lifting to in front his open mouth and his face growing paler with each passing second.

“Obey my command.”

Daniel knew there were no defence teams in the gateroom at present, despite the approaching threat.  Some he could sense the danger and could feel the tension within himself grow.

The voice echoed in his head, but felt detached and void of emotion.    The chevrons on the Star-Gate remained silent and still to his eyes, but in his mind he could see them lighting up one by one and connecting to an incoming wormhole.

Daniel shook his head from side to side, trying to clear his thoughts and rationalize the voice he was hearing.  The headache that had been had been growing was now piercing and stabbing.

“We come to your world, people of the T’auri.”

“GET OUT OF HERE NOW!” Daniel yelled, pushing Sergeant Siler towards the doorway, still keeping most of his attention on the Star-Gate.

Somehow he knew that the lives of these men were in danger as much as his own.  This wasn’t someone or something merely knocking on the iris and demanding entrance.  

This was like hearing the battering ram crashing through the layers of steel and knowing that the threat was almost upon them. 

“RUN!” Daniel emphasized.

He couldn’t describe why the voice disturbed him so much.  The sense of urgency that something unwanted was coming through the Stargate was almost overwhelming.

Silently he gave thanks as he saw the four men in front of him scampering to relative safety away from the gate room.

As Daniel neared the doorway himself, his mind went blank for a moment and he felt himself literally picked up and thrown backwards, dumped on his back hard enough to have him gasping in surprise.

The archaeologist got gingerly to his knees, rubbing at his shoulder briefly.   His brain calculated that he had been tossed approximately ten metres.  His heart was racing and a sudden rush of adrenaline filled every nerve fibre of his body.

Jackson saw Sergeant Siler trying to re-enter the gateroom to help him regain his feet and escape, but without warning, that same unseen forced that assaulted Daniel, pushed Siler and the technicians out the other side of the doorway.

The large steel doorway to the gateroom began to close, preparing to trap Daniel on his own.  The young man saw what was about to happen and scrambled to his knees as best he could, willing a burst of energy to his leg muscles.

He didn’t hear the yelling from Jack and other SGC staff in the control room as they watched him being tossed like a paperweight for a second time.

Jackson scrambled to the locked gate room door and punched the controls several times, trying to get them to respond and release.   He could feel bruises in several places on his body from landing hard on the concrete floor.

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!” Daniel yelled into the speaker system, his mind echoing with screaming that no one else could hear.

* * *

Daniel slumped down inside the doorway, trying to catch his breath and calm his nerves.  Then he heard the speaker system crackle into life and issue the words he dreaded to hear…….

“Unauthorized Off-world activation,”  “Incoming Traveller…….I repeat……… incoming traveler.”

His mouth went dry and he had to swallow, trying to gain some moisture in his throat to use his voice.

The event horizon burst forth with a huge kawoosh, signaling the arrival of their unknown visitor.

If Daniel had of thought about it hard enough, he would have been struck by the strange thought that the titanium iris was still in place.  Or at least it should have been.  The gateroom was under repairs and it would not have been opened until Sam and the technicians had deemed it safely working again.

How were these unannounced visitors were able to integrate through the sealed iris or activate the Stargate at all?

Sure, others had tried to infiltrate before, and others had been able to come through the Stargate.  The Tollans, the Nox came to mind.  But thankfully they have proved to be of no threat.

But then somewhere in the back of the filing cabinet in his mind, someone also remembered those who had threatened to come through the Stargate and create destruction and chaos.   Sokar and Apophis were still fresh enough in Daniel’s memory.

Daniel began pulling himself up into a standing position, watching for what or who might emerge from the puddle.  He had no weapon with which to defend himself, glancing fretfully about the room to see if there was something.

There was nothing.

“We seek you young T’auri.”

‘We’ Daniel mouthed silently, trying to identify the threat.  His palms were sweating slightly as he clenched them into fists and jam them in his pockets.

Beside his ear, Daniel heard the intercom and a voice that he was grateful to hear shouting from the other side.  Someone had come, they would get him out………..

“Daniel can you hear me?” Jack yelled into the intercom.

Jackson could hear a mixture of concern and ‘demanding to know what was going on’ in his voice, and almost laughed out loud at the relief that he briefly allowed himself to feel.

Taking one hand out of his pocket and uncurling his hand, he pressed a button and put his mouth close to the speaker.

“J-Jack………,” came the crackled reply. 

As soon as he spoke the one word, his attention was drawn back to the event horizon, fearing that whoever was coming through would hear his pleas for help.

‘You are alone, they cannot help you’ came the voice inside his head.

Daniel thought it odd for a moment, thinking that the visitor would now be exiting the worm hole and addressing him in person.  The wait to see who it could be was very disconcerting.  If it was a Goa’uld, they usually announced themselves and their threats of global dominion to Earth. 

The temperature in the gate room still felt like it was dropping. 

“They are c-coming J-Jack……… got to g-get out of h-here.”

“Who is coming Daniel?  Who?” Jack demanded to know, but any response he had planned died on his lips as the two Utarian guards finally presented themselves on the platform surrounding the Stargate.

Daniel recognized them and paused for a moment, thinking that his fear and the threats had all been a big misunderstanding of some sorts.

Next to emerge through the shimmering puddle was Rogyli, and Vice Chancellor Logatue, whom Daniel had spent some considerable time with back on their planet.

Daniel frowned out of confusion, wondering how on earth they knew the co-ordinates to Stargate Command in the first place, and secondly, why they were coming through unannounced.

He was about to address them, when he gaped open mouthed at the two beings who approached as the voice in his head spoke again.

“Young T’auri.”

The voice was definitely the same, but it was vastly different to the one that Logatue or Rogyli had used when they had been negotiating trade and co-operation between their two worlds.

“Um,” Daniel stammered, scarcely able to believe that these were the same people.  The shocked expression had come from the fact although he had heard a voice talking to him, he had yet to see either of them use their mouths.

Back on the mission, both Logatue and Rogyli had spoken in what could easily be described as a pidgeoned version of English.  Difficult for some people to follow he admitted, but he had been able to manage well enough after the first day and gained a level of fluency that he was comfortable with.

At the time, the archaeologist had deemed the Utarian people to be on a similar level of technology to their own.  They had been shown a small section of the city, but their progress didn’t appear to be startling or out of the ordinary at the time.

Looking at them now, he swallowed hard as he realized he could have made a dreadfully wrong assumption.  One that wouldn’t bode well for him, the SGC or earth.    If they had truly been deceiving him over all of this time, how much of what they had discussed was true or accurate?  Any of it.

The concerned thoughts he had returning to the Stargate during his shower in the infirmary were coming back to haunt him.  The word _“disturbed”_ didn’t even begin to describe the level of fear that he had felt grip him at the bottom of the ramp.

After all of this time of going through the Stargate and what he had witnessed and experienced, Daniel didn’t consider himself a coward.   He had already known how that term had been applied to him when he first joined Stargate Command.

Jack O’Neill’s barking tones and steely leadership, Sam’s gentle, encouraging but brave resolve and Teal’cs quiet, strong ever present support and guardianship had taught him that such a depreciating description didn’t apply to him.

Maybe the team’s actions on the planet had caused the Utarians to be offended and they now came to seek retribution and compensation.  He tried to think back over the four days for something that he might have done that would have counted as offensive or against their laws.

How much were they hiding?  Why hadn’t he been able to sense something was wrong?  Had he become that bad a judge of character?   Heaven knows Jack had ribbed enough about it in the past. 

In his role as the “Colonel”, Jack had been standoffish to the Utarians from the beginning, only biting back sharp remarks or insulting comments about their lack of emotion when he had brought him up short, reminding him of their agenda.

Oh yeah, he could hear Jack’s voice somewhere from far away, _‘Dammit Daniel, why didn’t you tell us these guys needed shooting first?’_   And the ever popular and frequent _‘I told you so’_ smirk that only Jack O’Neill could deliver.

_‘Your too trusting nature and naivety when it came to assessing the danger or risk to himself and the team’_ Jack had  accused in a heated argument. 

_‘Playing too nice’_ syndrome Jack had christened the affliction and deemed it to be one that affected those born in July who associated too much with rocks……artifacts…… whatever.

Jack had always emphasized the need to be vigilant and take people on your gut-instinct.  Usually the first response to any situation and almost always the right one according to his military frame of mind.

Maybe his reaction in front of the ramp had been his ‘gut-instinct’ finally kicking in and alerting him to something being a threat.  All be it much too late it would seem.  A delayed response perhaps and the cause of the fear the was keeping his muscles taunt and his senses on high alert.

* * *

“SEIZE HIM!” came the brusque order from Rogyli, the Utarian’s dark eyes flashing back at him dangerously. 

“What!”  Why!” Daniel heard himself squeak out as the two imposing guards began walking down the ramp towards him.  The indignant tone of the response was lost in the volume and pitch.

Daniel went to take a step backwards, but felt the solid steel door behind him, and realized that method of escape had been thwarted.  He went to side-step around the two large guards, but bucked and twisted at the restraint on his upper arms as they grabbed a tight hold.

“NO!  GET AWAY FROM ME!” Daniel shouted.

He continued his attempts to wrench his arms free, hoping to catch one of them off guard and give himself enough leverage to jerk free and scramble away from his captors.   The pressure on his arms increased and he could already guess at the bruising that would result.

“What do you want from me?” he said in the strongest voice he could muster.

He had only spoken to these people a day ago, perhaps he could gain their trust again briefly and try and work out what they wanted before things got to nasty. 

“Escape is futile, young one,”

Daniel had still been trying to pull away from the guards when Logatue spoke to him.  His tone was one of disinterest, as though wondering why the human was trying to resist at all in the first place.

Fearing that they did intend to do him bodily harm, Daniel used a booted foot and brought it down harshly against the lower leg of the much taller guard that held him on the left.

He had seen the guards on the planet, tall and well-muscled.  Almost as ominous as Teal’cs presence was to a lot of the SGC personnel when they encountered the former first prime of Apophis.     


They had escorted him daily from behind the closed doors of the negotiations, to the meagre accommodations and back again.  He had tried to strike up a conversation with them out of politeness, but had never received so much as a twitch from their expressionless faces. 

Rogyli had curtly told the ‘young human’ that the guards were not allowed to speak unless the Vice-Chancellor gave them permission.  And this was not very often.  There function was simple, to obey and guard Logatue and his advisor and carry out every command without question.

Daniel had made himself a mental note upon return to the SGC to apologize to Teal’c for the times when he thought that the Jaffa warrior had displayed a similar mask on his face.  Over time though, Jackson had put a lot of effort into understanding Teal’cs behaviour and the reasons behind his solemn silence and strongly chiseled facial features.

Rogyli made sure that he had Daniel’s complete attention when he gave his next short, but defining command:

“Bind his hands.”

“You don’t need to do this,” Daniel pleaded, looking to each of them, but focusing his words on the Vice-Chancellor.

Daniel moved his arms and hands as best he could, trying to prevent the guards being able to carry out their order for as long as possible, sweating on the possibility that someone would be coming through the gateroom door at any minute.

Without warning, Rogyli had grown tired, impatient and short-tempered at the T’auri’s attempts to avoid capture and disobedience, delivering a swift, decisive harsh blow to the side of his face.   The young man’s neck snapped backwards and he was stunned into sudden silence by the ferocity.

He had to bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from crying out from the pain.   Dizziness assailed him for a moment and his vision grew dim for a moment.

Daniel pulled in a shuddering breath, feeling the flaming redness down his face.  The assault had dislodged his glasses from his face, sending them across the concrete floor.  He didn’t try and turn around to see where they had landed.

One of the guards changed his grip slightly, making it higher up across the shoulder and directly over a nerve, causing Daniel to gasp out loud at the resulting sharp pain.  His head was bowed slightly as he tried to regain his composure.   He looked back up at Rogyli, from underneath a shock of hair with defiance emanating from his blue eyes

Rogyli took great pleasure in pulling a wide strap of leather from beneath his flowing cloaks and began to wrap them around Daniel’s hands.  The strap was tight and entwined in such as manner as to allow very little movement of either his wrists or fingers. 

“You will learn,” Rogyli send silently through his mind to the human, satisfied with his efforts as he saw Daniel grit his teeth with a grimace at the pain. 

“W-why….do you…….d-do this……?” came the question as Daniel forced himself to calm down. 

Despite his physical pain, he knew he had to talk to these people and find out what they wanted. 

“Bring him.”

The words ordered by Logatue send fresh waves of fear through Daniel as the guards began to push him towards the ramp and the awaiting wormhole.

His fear had increased exponentially at the thought of being dragged and manhandled through the Stargate.  Kidnapped against his will and without any help from anybody in the SGC.  They wouldn’t even know where to start looking for him, assuming of course there was any chance of rescue by that point.

Stubbornness again set in, determined to stay alive as long as possible, Daniel planted his feet firmly on the concrete floor of Level 28.  Widening his stance a little to provide more surface area and prove more difficult to move by the guards.

“Be damned if I am going anywhere with you….,” Daniel managed to get out as he fought against his captivity.

“Foolish human, you will tell us what we want to know.” Rogyli demanded, ready to strike the man again to achieve submissiveness by force if necessary.

A simple hand gesture from the Vice-Chancellor prevented him from doing so, Logatue staring him down, and forcing his advisor to remember his words before entering the Circle of Stone about damaging the young man too much.

Daniel had stopped briefly at Rogyli’s statement, frowning a little and trying to figure out what the man had meant.

“Tell you what?” Daniel demanded, his hands beginning to feel numb from the lack of circulation.

“We do not wish to damage you Daniel Jackson of the T’auri.”

‘ _Well that’s a relief’_ his own thoughts bit back sarcastically.  _‘Now let me go!’_

He might be channeling Jack O’Neill, but he immediately realized that these people were able to talk to him in his mind and may have already heard his remark.

“You have knowledge within here, that we desperately seek,” Logatue spoke using his hand to tap against his forehead, using his voice on this occasion and startling Daniel a little with the change in tactics.

“What knowledge?  If you want to ask me something,  I will tell you if you can,” he tried to rationalize.

“I do not think you give this information freely of your own will, Daniel Jackson.”

The way the Utarian leader spoke sounded too much like Teal’c using both his names for Daniel’s comfort. 

“You cannot tell us until you remember yourself.”

Such an unusual statement to make at first, one would think, but the gears of Daniel’s mind began to mesh together and with a horrifying revelation, he knew he had heard a similar declaration before.

_“You have knowledge here’_ the gesture from Nem’s appendage against his forehead, mirroring what Logatue had just done.

For a brief moment, Daniel found himself going back to that earlier time and place, forgetting where he was.  When Daniel looked back with a shocked expression of his face, he saw something else from Logatue;  he knew.

“Yes, Daniel Jackson.”

“I CAN’T DO THAT AGAIN!  NO!”  Daniel shouted.

He tried once more to turn and escape, but was held firmly in place by the two guards.  He tried to turn his face away and block out the images and memories that came began to bubble to the surface.

“The secrets are locked within you.”

“How can you be sure I have what you want?” Daniel demanded, trying to gulp air into his lungs.  The pain that he had felt back on Nem’s planet was something he never wanted to remember or experience again in any lifetime.

“In time, you mind will release what you have suppressed and buried deeply.”

‘Buried deeply?” Daniel thought to himself, knowing the feeling of déjà vu hardly described what he was going through at the moment.   He was startled back to his predicament by Logatue’s next command.

“Prepare him.”

“What!” Keep your hands off me!” he pleaded as the guards using his bound fists as best he could to defend himself.

One of the guards grabbed him from behind around the waist, pulling back on his upper arms and pinning them in a very awkward position.  His shoulder muscles were screaming from the exertion.

“HELP!” he managed to choke out between strangled breaths, his blue eyes wide and alarmed.

He was panting through the pain and restriction, trying to get a look at what they were trying to do to him.  The second guard used his overly large hand to jerk his head backwards, causing his neck and throat to be exposed.

Rogyli took great pleasure to make sure that the human saw everything he did or intended to do.   Pleased with the fear he could sense.   He withdrew a long thin hollow reed from a pocket and a small carved knife.

The reed was essentially split in hard, allowing a long narrow depression to flow through the centre.  The edge of the blade was caught in the fluorescent lights overhead and Daniel knew that it was razor sharp.

The last of three items brought to his attention was a small glass vial.  Daniel felt his knees beginning to grow weak at the thought of what the glass vessel might contain.  Were they going to drug him to take him back to their planet?

His respiration was growing rapid and shallow as he fought to free his head, now realizing that the reed was a crude form of syringe.

“NO YOU CAN”T DO THAT!  NO NO STOP!”

A million ideas ran through his mind as to what the substance in the vial might be.  It could be a poison or a truth serum.  It could either incapacitate him or cause his mind to turn to mush.   His track record with drugs was not a good one.

‘Secure him.’

Rogyli ignored the human’s pleas to stop and approached him with the blade.   He nodded to the guards holding his head to make sure the young man could not break free or move during the procedure.

“LET ME GO!  LET ME GO!” he screamed.

Daniel coughed harshly as fear began to take over his conscious thoughts at the blade slicing through his skin.  He could feel a hand pressing into the soft skin of his throat, below his Adam’s apple.

The Utarian advisor concentrated on his task and made an elongated but narrow mark on the human’s throat.  The bright red blood trickled out and began running down and pooling into the hollow at the base of his neck. 

Rogyli had taken the blade of the knife and created a sharp, thin point and then inserted it into the incision he had created.  Blood continued to flow, but it was slow enough not to cause any great damage to the human.  Just as Logatue had requested.

“Gahhhh,” Daniel moaned as a sharp point dug into the wound and he could feel the warm liquid soak into his collar.  He could feel hot tears welling in his eyes but could not break free.

“P-please stop.”

“This is the most effective method to deliver the serum?” Logatue asked, noting the distress of the young T’auri, but not interfering with his advisor’s actions.

“Yes, my Lord.  We still don’t know if it is going to work sufficiently, and I need to administer quite a large dose to ensure the connection will be successful.

“Proceed.” Logatue permitted, watching with the same disinterest as the contents of the vial were injected slowly and directly into the human’s bloodstream.

Once Rogyli was satisfied that the serum had been administered correctly he nodded to the guards to release their captive from their iron grip.

Daniel was shocked and surprised to feel the hands release him, lifting his hands immediately to the painful area on his throat.  His two hands together enough to obscure the incision and blood that was slowing beginning to clot.

He felt like he was falling into a dream.  Not asleep, but his mind was beginning to cloud over.  Even the pain was beginning to recede, leaving him confused and disoriented.

“Bring him as far as the gate,” Logatue ordered as they were startled at the sound of loud hammering on the large steel door.

It wouldn’t be long before their infiltration was discovered.  They needed to be away before they were prevented from doing so.

The two guards resumed their earlier tight grip on Daniel’s upper arms as they followed their ruler and advisor up the ramp towards the shimmering event horizon. 

This time though, their efforts to restrain him were met with no resistance and a strange docility.  The human didn’t try and pull away, his eyes unfocused and bloodshot.

“Release him,” Rogyli ordered as the four Utarians prepared to enter the wormhole.

“We will return Daniel Jackson when the connection has been allowed to establish between our minds.”

Daniel’s head was bowed and Logatue frowned a minute, wondering if the human was being deliberately defiant again despite the serum.  He did not give any verbal response to his assumption.

A moment later, the wormhole and event horizon collapsed, leaving Daniel Jackson standing motionless before a sealed iris.

* * *

 

On the other side of gateroom, Jack O’Neill and Teal’c paced back and forth in front of the large steel doorway as engineers continued to cut through the thick barrier.

Three defence teams stood on full alert, ready at a moment’s notice on O’Neill’s order to do their job.

“Right, listen we don’t know what is going on in that room at the moment.  We are going in hot,” O’Neill addressed the men.

“Ferretti, I want you and your team to secure the other side of the room once we are in there.  Nothing gets out until I say so,” Jack ordered.

“Done, Colonel,” Lou responded.  

He knew that his friend was worried about Doctor Jackson being trapped in the gate room all alone.  They all were.

Nothing like this had happened before.   General Hammond and the others in the control were just as blind as to what was happening because the blast shields were still down and inoperable.

“Sergeant Thompson, once me and my team are inside, you are to guard this doorway with the other defence team.

Your job is to make sure that nobody gets in there until I give the word,” Jack informed them.

“Co-ordinate your efforts together and lets not screw this up boys and girls.”

“Doc Fraiser, are you and your team ready?” O’Neill questioned.

“Yes, Colonel O’Neill,” Janet responded, silently just as worried about Daniel.  

She knew he hadn’t been feeling one hundred percent before leaving her infirmary.   Without knowing who had come through the Stargate, it was anybody’s guess what they were about to be greeted with.

“You are not to enter this room until you hear from me,” he spoke sternly, but wanting her to understand and comply without fuss. 

“Thompson, once I give them the word to enter, you and your men can help them with any of the medical equipment that we might need in there,” O’Neill said.

Inwardly Jack was praying that he wouldn’t need Janet’s help or medical equipment at all, but his own nerves were on edge after hearing Daniel’s staticy voice through the intercom.  His friend and teammate had sounded scared.  

Then they hadn’t been able to get Daniel to respond again.  

Siler and the other technicians had been shoved out of the room unable to get back in and help Daniel.  The Sergeant could be seen at the back of the defence teams, still feeling incredibly guilty that he hadn’t been able to do more to help the archaeologist.

“Almost through, Colonel O’Neill,” one of the engineers announced.   The large burn mark standing out prominently against the gray background of the door.

“General, we are almost ready to go in,” O’Neill shouted into the radio attached to his shoulder.

“Understood, Colonel,” Hammond responded, exchanging worried looks with the personnel in the control room as they all waited nervously for news about the condition of Doctor Jackson.

“Check your weapons, gentlemen,” Jack ordered, making sure that he was ready himself.  He would be first through the door once it was cut.   He could hear various sounds from the hardware being held to signify the men were complying.

“What do you wish of me, O’Neill?” the Jaffa warrior asked, holding his staff weapon in a manner that displayed strength and determination of the task ahead.

“I want you to secure the ramp, big guy,” O’Neill said, adjusting his cap one final time as the oxy-cutting equipment was being drawn away to allow them access.

Teal’c gave a small bow of acknowledge, intending to follow directly behind.

“Remember, secure the gateroom at all costs and protect Doctor Jackson,” Jack yelled out to the defence teams, not turning around, but trusting their skills had prepared them all enough for whatever lay before them.

* * *

“Let’s do this kids!” Jack shouted as he barreled through the cut out segment of the door, avoiding over the charred edges.

With years of trained experience, he kept his senses alert and his muscles ready to react to any threat.  He had proceeded through the middle of the room.  Ferretti and his team had gone off to the side, headed for the opposite wall.

“Gate secure,” Ferretti yelled out from across the other side of the door, positioning himself in front of it with weapon poised out in front.  Two of his men stood either side, whilst a forth, went about checking the control panel and making sure that it was still locked.

Thompson and his team had taken up a similar stance in front of the doorway everyone had just come through.  Janet Fraiser was nervously looking around the tall Sergeant, trying to see what was going on.

O’Neill came to a halt though when he reached center of the gateroom.  Whatever scenarios his brain had been able to cook up whilst pacing in the halls, this wasn’t it.   Or anywhere close.

The gateroom looked deserted.

_'this is it?’_

“Keep alert people,” O’Neill announced, the uneasiness too much to ignore. 

If this was what they were supposed to be facing, he certainly didn’t get it.

Everyone in the gateroom was startled at the sound of the blast shields kicking into operation once more and beginning to lift.

“What the hell………,” O’Neill said out loud to no-one in particular, turning in an instance with weapon in hand.

“Colonel, the shields are working again,” came the voice of Sam Carter over the speaker system.  As she spoke, her fingers were dancing across keyboards, setting up diagnostics and other tests to try and determine what was working again and what wasn’t.

The fact that they had any control at all was more than she was able to state a few minutes ago. 

“An incoming worm hole was established for exactly thirty minutes, Sir,” Carter told Hammond as they both watched the scenes play out below them.  

O’Neill nodded his head and gestured with his hand that he got the message, but something was still off about this whole scene.

“Where was Daniel?” 

It was the one question on the lips of everybody watching from the gateroom or up above in the control room.  Because he was standing off to the side of the Stargate, his location didn’t become immediately apparent.

From their vantage point, General Hammond and company could see Daniel facing away from them on the platform, but something was still disconcerting about him.

Down on Level 28, when they had first burst into the room, the teams hadn’t seen their missing archaeologist anywhere in the immediate vicinity. 

Jack had swallowed nervously for a brief second, remembering the announcement by Davis of an incoming traveler.

“Daniel Jackson,” came the address from Teal’c as he looked at where his young friend was standing.

He didn’t receive a response, but Jack was instantly by his side, taking note of where Daniel was.

“Daniel!” Jack shouted out, expecting his friend to turn around and look at them.  

He was a little annoyed that he had been so worried.  The man was standing on his own feet and the gateroom looked completely empty of any off-world nasties. 

If this wasn’t the true threat that they had all assumed it to be, Jack was going to be seriously pissed.

The iris was sealed, and didn’t look to be breached in any way.  He briefly glanced across to Ferretti and his team to see if they noted anything out of the ordinary, but Lou only gave a brief shake of his head and shrug in answer.

Up in the control room, Sam was pressed up against the glass, knowing that her skills were currently needed there to help. 

But she watched the gateroom scene unfold before them, Sam started repeating a mantra silently to herself, _‘Please be okay, Daniel.  Please be okay.’_

Teal’c continued to observe and put out a restraining hand as O’Neill prepared to jump onto the ramp, “Proceed with caution.”

O’Neill looked back at the Jaffa for a moment, but quickly saw the seriousness of his warning.  He didn’t say anything, but clamped a hand on the warrior’s shoulder in understanding.  He pulled the strap of his weapon across his chest, making sure it was secure before taking another step forward.

“Daniel?” Jack called out, approaching his friend. 

The man still hadn’t moved or made any attempt to turn around.  He noted the slumped posture and slightly hunched shoulders, but couldn’t immediately identify any reason for the lack of movement in his friend.

Putting his hand on a slim shoulder, he could immediately feel the tremors flowing through Daniel’s body. 

“Oh shit,” O’Neill gasped out loud, “Daniel?”

Teal’c immediately became aware of O’Neill’s concern for the young scholar and prepared to assist if necessary.

Daniel still hadn’t turned around at all, even to Jack’s voice and he had been too quiet for too long for O’Neill not to wanting to ask a lot of questions.

Jack wondered if he would be able to get his friend to walk down the ramp or if he would need Fraiser and Teal’c.

Maybe they had all be too premature in their assumption that everything was alright.  The logic was there in the back of his mind if Jack thought about it long enough. But it didn’t match up with what they had heard going on in the gate room when the door was sealed.

Someone had come through the Stargate and done something to Daniel and left again.

“What happened, Daniel?” O’Neill prodded gently, watching carefully where his friend had put his feet, feeling the tremors getting more pronounced.   He didn’t want to upset him until Fraiser could get a good look at him, so didn’t try and lower his hands or demand too many complicated actions just yet. 

“Come on buddy, nice and slow now,” Jack encouraged, his voice low in volume.  Something about the lack of animation reminded him of what Daniel had been like a few hours ago when they thought he had received an electrical shock.

‘ _Déjà vu_ ,’ Jack thought to himself gruffly still trying to get the younger man to respond, using a gentle, but firm hand on his shoulders to guide and steer.

Daniel had yet to lift his head, but had compiled with Jack’s request of walking, taking a few shaky steps down the grated metal ramp.  This is when O’Neill could see that Daniel’s hands were bound together tightly.  The hands were held firmly against his neck, forced to be clasped together by the numerous coils of wide leather strap.

It wasn’t until they were almost down to the bottom of the ramp that Daniel raised his head and Jack was able to notice the large reddening along one side of his face.  It was beginning to turn darker, hinting at the bruising to come.

“Aw crap, Daniel,” Jack sighed out loud in sympathy as he realized part of the reason for the non-responsivness.

Somebody had beaten Daniel for some reason whilst he was trapped in the gate room, and he was no closer to knowing who or why.  His strengthened his hold of the younger man’s arm in support, noting with increasing alarm how pliable he was. 

Teal’c got a glimpse of the young battered face and his jaw clenched in anger that he had not been able to prevent the injury.

Daniel’s face was pale and his eyes red-rimmed.  At some point he had lost his glasses, making the pain on his face even more noticeable.  His eyes were wide and scared, displaying a vulnerability that made Jack want to reach out and break something.

* * *

“Frasier, get in here,” Jack shouted out without thinking, immediately regretting his volume as he felt Daniel jerk under his guiding hand.

The young man startled badly, looking back at Jack owlishly and trying to process what was going on.  He frowned as he tried to figure out where he was, but the confusion was very evident.  Even to Ferretti across the other side of the room.

“Sorry, Daniel, I didn’t mean to yell like that,” Jack said, stopping a minute to try and calm his friend’s racing heartbeat.

“Colonel?” Janet called out, halting when Jack held up his hand, signaling her to remain at a distance.

“He is close to flipping out, Doc,” Jack informed her, taking his eyes off Daniel briefly.  “Give us a minute.”

Janet nodded her head in acknowledgement, but kept her eyes acutely on her patient.

“Daniel, calm down.   Your safe.”

The statement seemed to seep into the archaeologist’s cloudy mind slowly. 

“He is shaking like a leaf, Doc. Worse than before,” Jack explained back to her the symptoms he could distinguish.

From where she was standing, Janet could see the bound hands.  But worried her more was Daniel’s lack of recognition or sense of where he was.

“J-Jack…….,” came the whispered name, almost too soft to hear.

“There you go...,” Jack smiled briefly, breathing a huge sigh of relief at the one word escaping from pale lips.

“How ya doin’?”

For Daniel, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.  The voice he heard was swirling around him and not making any sense.   The syllables melted in one long monotone.

“H-have to……….,”

“Take it easy for a minute, Daniel,” Jack chastised lightly seeing the lack of concentration in that normally bright mind.  He could see the young man’s heavy eyes and the worrying lack of colour in his features.

“G-gave…….,”

“These appear to be Daniel Jackson’s glasses, O’Neill,” Teal’c said from a short distance away as he picked up the wired frames.  The glass on one lens was cracked near the top.

“I don’t think he will be needing those for a minute, T,” Jack said.  

Teal’c nodded in agreement and folded them carefully, giving them to Janet Fraiser who deposited them into one of the oversized pockets of her white lab coat.

Using a free hand, O’Neill unclipped the buckle on the strap of his P-90 and handed it off to the Jaffa for safe keeping.

Jack was jolted back to Daniel when the trembling in his limbs increased.  “Hey, its over,” he soothed, brushing the back of the man’s shirt in reassurance.

“Somebody get something to cut this damn strap off his hands,” Jack asked, having to calm down his own anger at Daniel’s mistreatment.

“G-gave me……….,” Daniel croaked out.  

Janet went to walk towards Daniel to help him when she spied something near the toe of her shoe.   She bent down to pick it up and examined it closely for a minute, trying to figure out what it was.

It wasn’t until she gasped out loud that Jack truly began to worry, the look on her face told him that something was dreadfully wrong.

“Daniel?” Janet said trying to gain his attention, stepping in front of the younger man and taking a good look at him.  She could see the painful looking redness and the emerging bruising of his face, but ignored that for now.

“Daniel!” she said a little louder, causing Jack to frown at her that she wasn’t being more gentle with him.

“It’s some kind of syringe,” Janet declared to the Colonel, noting that he quickly got the gist of her concern.  They both could see a bloody smear on the pointy tip, signaling just what it had been used for.

Now the spaced out look on Daniel’s face took on a whole new worrisome meaning and the blood on the reed increased their fear for their friend. 

“Bag that and get it to the lab now!” Janet ordered wanting some chance of finding out exacting it had contained.

Somebody handed her a pair of small surgical scissors and Janet began to try releasing the strap that bound his hands.  “Hold him still for a minute,” the petite red-headed doctor warned Jack.

It wasn’t until Jack prepared to gently pull the clasped hands away from his throat, that he noticed the dried blood.

“Doc, we have got blood here,” Jack shouted in worry as he tried to find the source. 

Then he could see the distinct cut mark that Rogyli had made with the sharp blade on Daniel’s neck.

“Daniel can you answer me,” Janet said, keeping her voice calm and even, trying to envoke a response.  The young man began blinking too many times for her liking.  His skin was beginning to feel too cold to her touch.

“He is beginning to feel a little shocky,” Janet informed Jack, “Someone get some of those blankets ready now.”

“Daniel?” Jack called out, rubbing his hand along the young man’s shoulder, trying to get him to answer them.

Daniel could feel hands on him, but he looked back up at them with a confused expression, as though not understanding what was needed.  He didn’t resist when he felt as though someone was pulling at him. 

The man could feel his feet standing on a hard surface for a few seconds, but his legs started to feel incredibly heavy and he didn’t think he had the strength to lift them and make them to move forward.

 “J-Jack…………,” Daniel tried to call out, but it ended up being barely above a whisper.

“You okay there, Daniel?” O’Neill asked, alarmed at how much paler his friend was looking from even a few minutes earlier.

_‘Note to me – What kind of lame, dumb-ass question was that?’_ Jack berated himself.  Of course the guy wasn’t alright.

‘Don’t feel s-so g-good………………,’ Daniel managed to drawl out in his mind, but the actual words never came as be began leaning heavily against Jack.

Janet had turned her attention briefly to one of her staff as she was handed the wanted blanket, but as she turned back, she could see what was about to happen.

“Colonel!” Fraiser cried out as she saw Daniel begin to crumple and fall towards the floor.

O’Neill acted quickly enough to adjust his hold, as he looped a supportive arm around the younger man’s waist.  He looked at his friend’s face just in time to see the blue eyes roll back and his body sag limply.

To Daniel himself, time seemed to be slipping away. He wanted to say something, but his mind was too foggy to form the words. He could feel himself falling, but couldn’t do anything to stop it. He could no longer keep his eyes open, no matter how hard he tried.

“Daniel!” Jack called out as he tried to get the younger man to respond, tapping the uninjured side of his face.

Daniel never felt the two sets of hands that caught him and gently lowered him to the ground.

 

to be continued…………….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ending of this story comes directly from another chapter I finished a little while ago for one of my other fandoms, “The Secret Device” – so anybody reading my SeaQuest stories may recognize the scene – just altered a little for Star-Gate.
> 
> I know it looked as if the serum took an awfully long time to take effect. The diagnosis and effects will be in the next chapter.
> 
> If you haven’t already guessed, this is intended to be quite a long story, first part of a trilogy – so buckle up folks – the journey is only just beginning for the team of the SGC.
> 
> The parts about the reed syringe probably didn’t quite fit into the scenario of the level of technology that I had hinted on about the Utarians – but I couldn’t just use an ordinary needle now. Where is the fun in that? LOL
> 
> I did write a couple of different other scenarios of what happened in the gate room and how they found Daniel, but finally decided on this one.
> 
> I don’t think I got the portrayal of the different characters quite right in this chapter. Will have to improve in that area.
> 
> In the next chapter I will be trying to write comments and lines spoken by Daniel that are not meant for Jack or other members of SGC, but appear to fit in at the appropriate time.
> 
> I hope you have enjoyed so far – and would love to hear your comments. I bruise easy, but reviews always inspire me to write more.


	3. Undisclosed Intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: Thanks to everyone who has been reading so far – hope you like the continuing of this story:
> 
> There will be flashbacks to some pivitol moments from episodes before “Legacy” but also some totally made up moment in Daniel’s life that I wrote. Hopefully it all fits together coherently enough to follow.
> 
> Thanks for all those who are still continuing to read. Always love to hear what people think of my writing.

**_Chapter Three:  Undisclosed Intentions_ **

“Lay him down gently, Colonel,” Janet requested as she supported the archaeologist’s legs and lower body.

Jack O’Neill watched as Fraiser skillfully gauged the condition of her patient, using her hands and trained eye to ascertain the immediate problems they were presented with.

Whilst Jack kept his attention fixed on his unconscious friend, Janet was giving her nurses a few instructions and watched as they scurried off to get equipment and supplies ready for her patient’s arrival.  She also repeated the urgency of having the crude syringe she had found tested as quickly as posted.

And at that moment, “Can you please get a gurney ready in here quickly,” she instructed one of her orderlies.

“Pass me that blanket please, Colonel,” watching both her patient and keeping an eye on the man knelt by his side.  She knew that he was as worried as she was.  Jack didn’t even turn his head to locate the woolen fabric, just reached down beside him and felt with his hand until he found what he knew to be nearby.

“Thank you,” Janet said, draping the blanket over Daniel’s form and tucking the sides in.  The tremors in his limbs was still noticeable and looking at her watch she was worried about the length of time that had already passed.

“Is one going to be enough?” O’Neill queried, detecting as she did the continuing twitches and spasms that were plaguing the younger man. 

“We don’t want him to become too overheated, but we need to stem the symptoms as quickly as possible.  His body is still in shock,” Janet replied, not wanting to voice out loud just yet that her medical training and knowledge caused her to suspect that there was a completely different reason than ‘cold’ being the culprit.

“Daniel, can you hear me?” Janet called out as she ran her hands over the archaeologist’s upper arms to check for any injuries that might be concealed underneath his clothing.

Very gently Janet used her gloved fingertips to look beneath those closed eyelids and she didn’t like what she saw.  The pupils appeared quite large.   Pulling out a penlight from her coat pocket, she repeated the process, using the light to confirm the results.

“His pupils are very dilated and slow to react,” she announced, giving a running commentary as she continued the examination.  She wanted to make sure that it was safe to move Daniel from the floor.

“So in other words, drugged,” Jack surmised, watching his friend with growing concern about how still he seemed to be. 

“That would be the best assumption at this time, Sir, but I don’t want to jump to any conclusions at the moment until we know what we are dealing with.”

“That’s just it isn’t it,” Jack said, getting a little frustrated that they were none the wiser about what had happened to Daniel behind closed doors. “We don’t know squat.”

She looked a little closer at the wound on Daniel’s neck, noticing that the sides of the cut looked smooth, “This looks like it has been caused by a knife or something very sharp,” she voiced, touching the edges very gently.  There was some surrounding bruising beginning to emerge, and there was some further redness to his neck that been sustained.

Jack watched the doctor and noted that the blood was dried, but there was a substantial amount that had run down his neck and pooled in the hollow made near his sternum.  His collar was smeared in places and the top of his black t-shirt was marred with a stain.

In his mind he couldn’t forget how tightly Daniel’s hands had been strapped tightly when he guided him down the ramp and the fact that someone thought it necessary to tie up his friend made his blood boil.  _‘How dare anyone……’_ ran through his head, the thought only half finished.

Jack’s train of thought was interrupted by the metal sound of squeaking trolley wheels approaching and looked up to see two orderlies along with the white sheeted gurney.

“Let’s get him up on here to start with and take him back to the infirmary and see if we can’t find some answers,” Janet suggested, knowing that the Colonel felt useless and had been unable to stop his friend getting hurt in the first place.

“Step back and let my staff do their job, Colonel,” Janet requested. 

For a moment an expression crossed his face and the petite doctor thought she might have to say it a second time or be a little more firm with her instructions, but was relieved to see him do as she asked.  He still had one of his hands on Daniel’s shoulder, but reluctantly released his friend, threading his hands deep into his pockets.

‘ _Damn, why is it always Daniel_?’ he asked himself silently.

Jack watched Janet adjust the straps on the mattress and make sure her patient was comfortable and stable before beginning to move him.  She fussed with the blanket for several more seconds, checking his pulse and respiration briefly.

“I better stay here and set up security and defence teams,” Jack informed her, giving her his reason for not going along side of gurney back to the infirmary.  “We still don’t know if Daniel was the target or the entire SGC.  Better to be safe than sorry.”

“After that is sorted, SG1 minus one better have a pow-wow with Hammond. See if Carter or her team of technos can come up with some footage or something on what happened behind closed doors,” O’Neill continued.

Janet nodded her acknowledgement to his logic and precautions, knowing that he would rather accompany Daniel until he was sure his friend was going to be okay.  But the military man built into Jack O’Neill made him prioritize his time and do what needed to be done for the good of everyone.  His duty had to become before personal concerns.

“I will keep you informed, Sir,” Janet said over her shoulder as she assisted the two orderlies in wheeling the trolley out of the undamaged security door.

Ferretti made sure the path was clear for them to proceed and tried to get a look at the downed archaeologist as he passed by, but Janet was crowding her patient too close for him to establish much.

“Daniel going to be alright, Colonel?” Ferretti asked as his friend and commanding officer walked in his direction.

“We don’t even know what happened to him yet,” O’Neill said clenching his fist in frustration.  “Damn strap on his hands was so tight it had to be cut off.”

“Can’t seem to catch a break lately can he?” Ferretti voiced, knowing that when Doctor Jackson was hurting, physically or psychologically, then O’Neill and the rest of SG-1 would be on edge right along with him until it was over. 

“As if,” Jack scoffed with exaggeration in return. 

Lou knew the score with what Daniel had been through lately.  Hell Ferretti, him and Daniel went back to the beginning, so he certainly understood.

Jack heard large footsteps approaching him from behind, but recognized them as belonging to Teal’cs oversized feet.

“How does Daniel Jackson fair, O’Neill?” the deep voice questioned.

“Not good at the moment, Teal’c,” Jack responded, dragging a hand through this short graying hair and letting out a breath that he didn’t even know he had been holding.

“You and me will go and visit Carter in a minute in the Control Room.  Fraiser is going to be busy with Daniel for a while.  Pretty sure he has been drugged with something; he was acting all skittish before he went down.”

O’Neill could see the displeased look on the Jaffa’s face and a shared unspoken grimace that conveyed, _‘I am just as ticked as you on this one.’_

Ferretti, for now I need your team to set up a security perimeter for the Gateroom and then a rotation of defence teams. We need to be patrolling the Gate itself inside this room in case any nasties want to make a re-appearance,” Jack ordered. _  
_

Ferretti acknowledged the order with a question of his own, “You really think they are going to try again, Colonel?”

“We don’t even know who “they” are for the moment.  Something or someone attacked Daniel without much warning  and as usual for some reason that escapes us all, singled him out.  I am not going to give them a second chance to try.”

“I will make sure the rotation rosters are set up without delay,” Ferretti promised, knowing that he would be doing it for Daniel rather than being an order coming from Jack.  “Don’t worry about the guys in here, I can make sure they get to where they are needed for you, too.”

“Just don’t take any chances.  Have teams ready to go on alert at any time and be able to get to hazmat suits too if the need becomes necessary,” Jack added.  In the back of his mind he knew that suits were probably overkill.

“We will be ready,” the Major stated firmly.

“Something about this is already giving me a bad taste in my mouth,” Jack shared before turning and walking off with Teal’c, knowing that Ferretti would be capable of carrying out his assigned duties.

* * *

Jack wasted no time in exiting the Gateroom and preceding climbing the double staircase two steps at a time, with Teal’c not far behind on his heels.

Striding purposefully into the Control Room, “General,” Jack greeted his superior officer, but not saluting.  “I have Major Ferretti setting up a defence team rotation for the Gateroom and I want his team to personally oversee who is coming in and out of the Gate for the next 72 hours.  After that, we can reassess.”

Inwardly, Hammond had to smile at the brashness that was all Colonel O’Neill.  No beating around the bush, especially when it came to one of his team being at risk.  Something to be admired for sure, but he wasn’t so sure everybody appreciated Jack’s frontline approach to tasks.

He, on the other hand, had come to respect and on many occasions admire the hard working military mind that came with the boldness, comedic outbursts, and straight-down-the-line, tell-it-like-it-is personality of his Second-In-Command.

“Good to know, Colonel,” the General acknowledged, still standing by Sergeant Harriman as they tried to assess the condition of the systems before them.

Carter had been seated on the other side at a main terminal, no doubt buried deep in thought about algebra and logarithms that made Jack squeamish just to think about.  She too was military and knew that the General and a lot of people were counting on her expertise to figure out what had gone so horribly wrong only a short time ago.

Upon seeing Teal’c and Jack enter the control room, Sam couldn’t help but jump to her feet, wanting to know more of what had been happening in the Gateroom.  She was relieved to hear of the precautions that Colonel O’Neill felt were necessary and she silently agreed that the higher level of security would need to be maintained.

O’Neill could see Carter standing near the General and virtually buzzing with wanting to interject into the conversation, but protocol and training stayed her hand and forced her to wait.

A few seconds after the Colonel had given his report, “Sir, any news on Daniel, Sir?”

Sam was hoping that General Hammond would be just as keen to find out about the young man’s current condition.

“Fraiser carted him off a few minutes ago.  No news yet.  Daniel was acting all weird and too quiet when I found him at the top of the ramp,” Jack reported.

“That’s it?” Carter blurted out, thinking that the Colonel had left quite a bit out of his oral report.  This was her friend too and she wanted details. 

“Sorry, Sir,” she then said to having the decency to look contrite when Teal’c raised his eyebrow at her brief outburst.   General Hammond nor O’Neill knowing if her apology was directed at either specifically or both of them.

Jack gave a little smug smile at having caught Carter at a bad moment, but inwardly couldn’t blame her, he wanted to know how Daniel was himself.  He decided to cut her a little slack since Hammond appeared unfazed by her curt question.

“As I was going to say…….,” he said deliberately pausing, seeing Carter rolling her eyes at his slightly childish antics before gesturing for him to continue, acting suitably admonished and chastised.

“Whoever came through the gate left some marks on Daniel’s neck and his hands were tied up.  Doc found some tube-like _‘thing’_ on the floor that might have used to give him something.  But she is not sure what yet.”

“You mean drugged, Colonel?” Hammond enquired, reading through the somewhat cryptic report.

“Yeah, that is what she is thinking, but they cut into his neck to do it,” Jack said, seeing Carter’s face pale a little at his description and grow more concerned about Daniel.  He could see both Carter going into full protective lioness mode.

“Was Doctor Jackson able to tell you anything?” Hammond asked.

“No, he tried to whisper a couple of things at one point, but was too disorientated and confused.  He passed out and hasn’t told us anything yet.”

Jack totally changed the topic of conversation for now, “Carter, have you figure out how any of this happened yet?”

“I have some preliminary results I can show you, but I am afraid it is not much yet.  We don’t have data on ……,” she began to say.

“Let’s take this into the briefing room shall we people,” Hammond requested, signaling for the remaining members of his premiere team to follow.

Sam quickly spoke to a few of the technicians, promising to come back and help as soon as she could, before grabbing hastily at the folders she had been surrounded with and following the three men.

* * *

**_Back in the infirmary:_ **

Nurse Graham looked up at the sound of the approaching squeaky wheels of a gurney.  She had heard the unmistakable sounds of the Klaxon alarms wailing and Janet scramble to a call for medical assistance. 

The doctor had never said who she expected the patient/s to be.  With a few teams off-world, it was anyone’s guess who was ‘ _coming in hot’_ so to speak, or at least that is how the marines phrased it.

“Okay, let’s wheel him over here and get him as comfortable as possible, then we can start a running sheet of tests I want to perform,” Janet instructed the orderlies.  Nurse, I am going to need you over here please.”

Rebecca was prompt and efficient, ready to carry out any request, but couldn’t hold back her startled gasp of surprise at recognizing just who lay on the gurney. Not just asleep either from the look of it.  Doctor Jackson?” she voiced with concern, looking at Doctor Fraiser.

“Believe me, this is **_not_** what I had in mind when I told him to go home and rest,” Janet said, satisfied where the stretcher was situated and beginning to examine cables from various pieces of equipment that was near the bedside. 

“I don’t think is what you had planned today either, is it Daniel?” she said softly, brushing some of the hair out of his eyes, hoping that he might shock her and wake up.  But she inwardly sighed, knowing that it wasn’t likely to happen for the time being so she may as well start putting her medical skills were put to use.

The two orderlies assisted Doctor Fraiser in moving the patient from the gurney to the bed, and then departed, taking the excess equipment with them to allow working space around the unconscious Daniel.

Nurse Graham worked with her doctor and was prepared for the quick fire rapid request of syringes, gauze, a set of hospital scrubs, but finally decided to ask the question that was burning on the tip of her tongue, “What happened to him, ma’am?”

Janet looked up briefly, noting the genuine concern from her staff member.  Rebecca was one of the more senior nurses and her experience and age didn’t give her over to being emotional as it did sometimes with her younger nurses.  “There was an incident in the Gateroom, I don’t think we know much more than that for now.”

Rebecca was a little disappointed that the Doctor was not able to elaborate further, but was professional enough to accept what little she had been told and to focus her attention on the patient.   Doctor Jackson’s condition certainly looked different than he had earlier when they had found him merely asleep.  

There were pinched pain lines at the corners of his mouth and his skin pallor was much paler than earlier in the day.  Pulling back the blanket and helping Janet to remove the patient’s t-shirt, she could detect the tremors in his limbs.

“I want to get him stabilized first, he was showing early signs of shock, and you can feel for yourself the tremors he is experiencing.   I want him kept warm, blood pressure and respiration taken and then I can see to that wound on his neck,” Janet informed her as together they slipped the larger hospital shirt over Daniel’s head.

It wasn’t until Janet carefully lay Daniel’s head back on the pillow that Nurse Rebecca observed the cut mark on the young man’s neck.  It wasn’t bandaged yet and the dried blood made it stand out in stark contrast to his skin.

“What did they do to you, Daniel?” Janet whispered softly as she went to take his pulse by his wrist and could see the damage that the tight leather strap had caused.  The skin was quite red and inflamed.  The leather had been so tight in a couple of places to cause small lacerations that needed to be cleaned and treated to avoid infection.

Over the next half an hour, Janet carefully examined her patient from head to foot, making sure she didn’t miss anything and accounting for any marks or blemishes.  Because they were dealing with a possible alien entity and an unknown origin, they would have to be doubly careful. 

Taking a small dish of disinfectant and soft gauze pads, she gently washed the red skin on his wrists.  Fortunately they had not been in place much longer.  However it was clearly evident that they had been too tight and Daniel was more than likely going to suffer some residual stiffness of his fingers and puffiness from the swelling of his hands in general.  He was lucky the strap had not impeded his circulation any further.

During her administrations, Janet had been anxiously waiting for results of whatever might have been injected into his system.  It was certainly keeping him very quiet and that worried her more.  She knew that the testing would take longer than this, but it didn’t stop her briefly glancing towards the doorway on several occasions, in the hope of some helpful news.

Janet had put away the supplies from taking care of Daniel’s wrists and was about to start on cleaning the wound on his neck, when the nurse voiced her concern about his vital signs, “I think you had better check this, Doctor Fraiser.”

“His respiration had dropped a fair amount, even since you have brought him in here and I started monitoring.  It’s not at dangerous levels yet, but his pulse is beginning to slow as well.”

Janet took the stethoscope from her pocket and went about confirming Nurse Graham’s assessments.  Following then by  the blood pressure cuff, and detecting a drop as well.  Rebecca was right, it wasn’t anything to be alarmed about just yet, but it was definitely lower.   His pulse was more noticeable since she had felt it racing when she had examined him in the Gateroom.

Doctor Fraiser placed a thermometer into Daniel’s left ear and took a reading, acceptable for now, but when placing the back of her hand on his cheek, Fraiser could detect a slight chill on his skin.  She pulled the blanket back around him, not wanting any further problems.

“His lungs sound clear enough, and his temperature is good for now,” Janet informed her nurse after listening intently to her patient’s chest.  “Prepare that next dish ready to attend to his neck.”

“Do you think it will need stitching?” the nurse asked, leaning over the patient a little and watching the doctor’s gentle but expert hands clean away the dried blood.  Once it was gone, it was clear to see that there was a single slit mark, close to the main artery in Daniel’s neck. 

Upon seeing the cleaned wound and inspecting more closely, she was convinced of her earlier theory that the cut had been made by a knife or something sharp.  Janet observed that the bruising she had seen earlier had not progressed much further at this stage. 

“I am not going to stitch it for now.  It may not be deep enough to cause more than a sore throat for the next few days.  I suspect Daniel will experience some discomfort upon waking.”

“This area around his neck is red too,” Janet pointed out, using her fingertips to examine the surface of the skin.  There was noticeable discolouration, but she couldn’t detect any finger marks indicating where someone may have tried to use their hands on Daniel’s neck in a choking action.

Janet laid a piece of gauze over the wound and used some white adhesive tape to keep it in place.  The stark white fabric now standing out and very prominent.  Once she was finished and discarded her gloves, the doctor made the necessary notations on his chart.

“Do you want to give any pain relief?” Nurse Graham enquired, wanting to be clear on any medication regime if there was to be one. 

Janet looked down at her patient, thinking for a moment and taking in what they had already discovered, “For the next hour or so, no.  His vitals are fairly good, but I don’t want to do too much until I see these test results before we revisit the need for pain medication.  Unless Daniel becomes restless beforehand.”

“I will prescribe a general antibiotic to avoid any infection that might be brewing from his wrists and the neck wound, but apart from that we wait,” Janet answered.  “His pupils are still heavily dilated, and that concerns me.  But having said that he doesn’t appear to be dehydrated, so I will forego the IV for now.”

“Run a normal blood screen, but add to it checking for any extra abnormalities, just in case,” Janet added, erring on the side of caution.  With Daniel Jackson in your infirmary, you never knew and it always paid to be prepared.

“I am going to finish writing up his file and preparing a preliminary report for the General, let me know as soon as those test results are ready,” Janet requested as she stepped away from the bed, leaving Daniel in the nurse’s capable hands.

“SG1 are probably going to want to visit soon, if they are finished with General Hammond before I get to them.  But for now, I don’t want Daniel’s rest disturbed.  Restrict anybody except for medical personnel until we know what we are dealing with.”

“Yes, Doctor Fraiser,” Rebecca replied dutifully.

* * *

**_In the briefing room:_ **

General Hammond observed his second-in-command as they gathered around the large table, able to see the tension coming in waves.  The cords of his neck taunt and his shoulders held back stiffly.  Not having yet afforded himself to relaxing.  His expression was guarded.

“Why don’t you take a seat, Colonel.”

Jack paused his pacing, and looked back at this two teammates who were seated across the other side of the room.

_'Damn it, this is no time be resting on our collective asses._ ’

Seeing that George was growing impatient and wanting to get underway, O’Neill compromised a little and walked over to the coffee pot and began pouring a cup for himself.

He hated being in a position where there wasn’t much he could to.  Add into the mix that they didn’t have a clue of who had come through the Stargate or what they had demanded of Daniel.

By the time he forced himself to sit at the table; he had lost interest in the steaming beverage, and pushed it away towards the centre of the table.

_‘Come on O’Neill get a grip here’_

Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he tried to redirect his discontentment in the right direction.

“Major, what can you or your scientific team tell us about what happened in the Gateroom,” Hammond began.

“Well, Sir…,” Carter began, before she was interrupted.

Jack scoffed a little too loudly at the General’s more subtle approach to asking the questions, but bit back from further comment or sound when he felt himself on the end of a stern, rebuking glare from Hammond.

_‘Okay, I get it’_

“….as I was about to say, Sir, we have only begun to correlate what little data that was able to be retrieved from the system’s computers…….”

“Come on, Carter, out with it.  Find something that tells us how to help Daniel,” Jack chastised. 

“Colonel O’Neill,” Hammond addressed him once again, his patience growing terribly thin, “We are all trying our best to figure out what happened.”

A brief small smile in apology flickered across Jack’s face just in time for Sam to see, but it disappeared just as quickly.

“We need to know facts, General, not idle gossip,” O’Neill continued with his blunt appraisal.  “I know Carter and her team will no doubt solve the problem, eventually.  But right at this moment, we need to know **_‘who’_** came through the gate and **_‘how._** And how do we prevent it from happening again.

“Then let the Major finish, Colonel,” Hammond ordered.

O’Neill acknowledged the General’s words, sitting back from the table and beginning to rock back on his chair.  A way of keeping his fidgeting to a minimum without disrupting vocally.

“Sir, we have only just begun completing an extensive round of diagnostics and checks against the system’s computers, but unfortunately whoever did this, entered and left the SGC Gateroom without leaving much of an electronic footprint behind,” Sam explained to Hammond.

“What about the overriding of our controls in the Control Room?” Hammond queried, trying to break down the events into smaller pieces that might aid in identifying those responsible.

“The blast shields descended as you know, and they are not too difficult to tinker with, if someone wanted to,” Carter answered.  “But usually there is an extensive array of self-testing and protocols in place for the computer system to avoid this situation from happening. It was one of the first things that was devised as gate usage become more active and it is a continual ongoing process as we visit more occupied worlds.”

“Is there any gate address or any symbols showing to where these _people_ came from?” O’Neill questioned.

“No, that is what is so puzzling, Sir,” Sam replied.  “On what little data I have been able to compile in this short space of time since we could regain access to our own systems, there are is no symbols or binary information that we could successfully use.”

“So, no?” Jack succinctly interjected, hating that Carter usually put such a simple answer into more words than necessary.  Daniel often did the same thing with his presentations and reports.  It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate their efforts normally, just hated the fact that his brain had to process more than one word, when he didn’t have to.

“No, Sir,”

“It would appear not, O’Neill,” Teal’c uttered. 

Jack deliberately turned to look at the large man, blinking at the Jaffa’s sentence.  Given that any other time, Teal’c was the _king_ of the one word response, he coped the jibe on the chin good-naturedly pointing a finger at as a returning gesture of rebuke.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but the fact that these _people_ just wandered casually into the SGC and were able to gain access to our systems without us even knowing it, sets my froot loops on high alert,” Jack voiced.

Teal’c raised an eyebrow at the ‘ _froot loops’_ analogy, not knowing why O’Neill was thinking of breakfast cereal.

“Something about this whole thing just doesn’t add up, Sir,” Carter put plainly.

“A lot of _this_ doesn’t add up or make sense, Carter.  Like how our so called ‘ _state-of-the-art’_ megabucks systems were hijacked,” O’Neill challenged.

Hammond watched the gestures and bodily language of those in the room, as well as listened to what they said.  When it came to his second-in-command, it didn’t happen very often that Colonel O’Neill openly admitted to having apprehension about something.  Most of the time he merely growled, complained and objected to things he didn’t like.

With special ops as a background, the General had learned to trust O’Neill’s gut instincts and first reactions as they were usually right even if occasionally unorthodox.  The Colonel wasn’t spooked easily.

“I haven’t even had time to sleep off the last mission, Sir.  When some people we don’t even apparently know, walk across our turf without so much as a ‘ _howdy-doo_ ’,” Jack stated.  “They didn’t knock on the door or even ring the door bell.”

“I am unfamiliar with O’Neill’s term ‘ _howdy-doo’_ and I have seen no such door, General Hammond, but I too am concerned with the ease of such an infiltration to the SGC,” Teal’c agreed.

Jack grinned back at the Jaffa, silently promising to teach him some more cool ways to say hello.  He doubted Teal’c would ever learn such a greeting from Daniel.  He could imagine the linguist arguing something about butchering the spoken word.

“What the Colonel meant Teal’c is that we didn’t have any warning of their coming or their attack on the Stargate or Daniel,” Sam defined.

Teal’c respectfully bowed his head at her explanation.

“However, it is certainly not unheard of before now of having other races come through our Stargate, without any advance notice, nor having to rely on the use of a DHD like we do,” Sam added.  “The Nox, the Tollans and of course Sokar are just a few examples of when this has happened.”

“The good, the bad and the ugly,” Jack commented, earning a wry smile from Carter at his description of some of their recent allies and enemies.

“Give me your best assessment of what we should be doing at this moment, Major, taking into account the safety of all of SGC and thinking about what happened to Doctor Jackson,” Hammond requested.

“Sir, my recommendation is for all necessary codes to be changed on the dialing system once we have it back up and running correctly,” Carter suggested.  “The system should work.  Just like it does for the self-destruct sequence, when more than one senior officer is required.”

“Do you have any suggestions, Colonel?” Hammond addressed Jack.

“If you are asking me, I recommend setting up a guard dog at the bottom of the ramp.  He could let us know when something is coming through the gate.  A big scary dog.  We could cover ourselves with a, ‘ _beware of the dog’_ sign on this side for our own people.”

Sam laughed softly at the off-the-wall remark.  Hammond shook his head, slightly amused by the Colonel’s mood changing for the better. 

Jack saw the surprised and shocked looks, “What?  I will take responsibility of feeding it.  Got to be better than the current warning system.  Can’t go wrong with a good guard dog.  I have had some great dogs at my place.”

The conversation was halted by the appearance of Doctor Fraiser at the doorway, “Come in, please Doctor,” Hammond said, motioning with his hand. “I hope you have some good news to share with us about Doctor Jackson.”

“We were all just discussing what name we are going to give the dog we want to get for the SGC,” Jack interrupted. 

Fraiser paused in her steps at his outlandish statement, but admonishing herself ‘ _do not to go there’_ as she approached the briefing room table. When Janet didn’t reply positively, the room grew serious once more, as she took a seat between the General and Major Carter. 

“I know you are all anxious to hear the details, but we have quite a few issues to discuss…” the doctor began.

Jack sat up straight in his chair, keeping his attention fixed on her and already not liking what she was yet to say.

* * *

**_A little earlier in the Infirmary:_ **

Nurse Graham began her routine of checking vitals as the doctor had requested.  She had already noted some earlier decrease in his respiration and a lowering of his blood pressure.

Upon this check, things seemed to be a little different, with the patient beginning to appear a little more restless.

“Doctor Jackson?” the nurse called out as the man on the bed mumbled something an incoherent.  Perhaps he was starting to regain consciousness and wake.

The patient muttered again, and this time she thought he deciphered it as “ _No”_.

Rebecca approached Doctor Fraiser’s office, “Ma’am, I think you had better come and take another look at Doctor Jackson.”

“Something new?” Janet asked as she followed the nurse back into the ward.

“Just now I thought he may have been trying to wake up.  He tried to speak a couple of times. I couldn’t work out what he uttered the first time, but just now it sounded like he said ‘No’”, Graham informed her. “Some his vitals are still heading in the wrong direction, and they don’t correspond with some of the other symptoms that are beginning to emerge.”

As if on cue, Daniel’s right hand moved on the bed, catching the doctor’s attention, “Y-you can’ttt…..,” the words trailing off almost before they left his lips.  Ending with a tired sigh and then silence once more.

“Doctor Jackson?” Janet called out, using a tone that usually a patient might respond to.  “Can you wake for me?”

Gently shaking his shoulder and running her hands down his arms, trying to extract a reaction, and at first she thought her voice might be filtering through to him.  His eyelids began to twitch and flutter, signaling his attempts to obey.

“His temperature appears to be a little more elevated, Doctor,” the nurse told her, “But his skin on the outside is still cool to the touch.”

Janet picked up the digital thermometer, slipping the cone shaped end into his ear.  After a moment, she withdrew it and noted the numeric reading.  Using her hands, she could still detect the chill to his upper torso and arms that the nurse had observed.  Rebecca was correct when the symptoms seemed to be in direct contrast to each other.

Daniel’s brow wrinkled briefly, “hurts too much,” both women heard him say, his voice faint.

“Does he mean he is experiencing pain now?” Nurse Graham asked, thinking that was what the patient meant, but he wasn’t showing any outward signs or squirming as one might expect when suffering from pain.

Janet continued to watch her patient before answering, “I don’t think so.  His heart was racing in the gateroom before we got him back here to the infirmary.  I think his body is remembering the physical attack after having a bad fright. It is still trying to cope, and no doubt Doctor Jackson’s body and mind are still coming down off the adrenaline high from being assaulted.”

“Doctor Fraiser,” one of the lab technicians asked as he came through the infirmary doors and into the ward, “I was told to bring this report straight to you.”

“Thank you,” Janet said, glancing at him briefly to acknowledge his delivery of the initial test results, but quickly turning her eyes to the two page report she had been handed.  At first, her eyes skimmed to the important pieces of information….

“This cannot…..five times?” she said, speaking her thoughts out loud, but her concern growing, “I hope this isn’t right,” putting aside the report on a nearby table, and beginning to assess her patient once more.

“You have an answer?” Nurse Graham queried, not wanting to directly come out and ask the doctor what was in the report.  She was certain that Doctor Fraiser would give her what information she thought pertinent to the patient’s care.

Janet didn’t answer straight away, instead, taking a pen light and checking Daniel Jackson’s optical response to stimulus.  “That is not what I want to see, Doctor Jackson.”

“I have to give a preliminary report to General Hammond, but we are going to have to increase the monitoring,” Janet informed her nurse.  “Set up the usual paraphernalia and stick to the time regime that we have already set in place, but we are going to have to keep a sharp eye on his temperature and respiration.”

“Yes, Ma’am, right away,” Rebecca replied.

“I will give you more instructions when I come back, but I at this stage, it is safe to assume that Doctor Jackson will remain fairly unresponsive for the time being.  I want to know straight away if there is any change to this, come and find me if you deem it necessary,” Janet ordered.

“Doctor Warner needs to be contacted to find out when it might be possible to fit this patient in for a MRI, I can do that after speaking with the General,” Fraiser requested, setting up a plan of action now that she had some clues to work with.

Janet left the patient in the capable hands of Nurse Graham, quickly grabbing a handful of files and the report she had just been handed, and left the infirmary towards Hammond’s office.  Knowing that her diagnosis that was unfolding would not be welcome by any of Daniel’s teammates.

* * *

**_Back in the briefing room:_ **

“Before we begin, let me say that for the moment, Daniel is quiet and comfortable.  I have one of my best nurses attending to his needs.  He had yet to regain consciousness since leaving the Gateroom,” Janet informed those seated at the table.

“Your efforts are appreciated, Doctor.  And I take heart in the fact that you are comfortable enough to leave Doctor Jackson for any period of time,” Hammond commended his Chief Medical Officer.

“Is Daniel going to be okay?” Sam asked, expecting that Janet would know that that the concern was coming from a friend and family member, rather than just from a military perspective.

“We have a few problems facing us for the moment, or should I say, Doctor Jackson has,” Janet said, feeling comfortable enough to be a little more informal to this little small knit group she knew cared.

“Like?” Jack prompted by gesturing impatiently, wanting specifics.

“Both of Doctor Jackson’s wrists show that the piece of leather strapping that was used to restrain him was too tight. There are a number of lacerations which I have cleaned and bandaged.  The surrounding skin is red and inflamed, but should response good to antibiotics.”

The scowl on O’Neill’s face as a result of the Fraiser’s assessment of the way Daniel has been tied up grew into silent assurances of ‘ _retribution’._

“His blood pressure and respiration are noticeably lower, but being monitored for now.  His body temperature is also lower than I would like, but is being countered with warm blankets for the moment.

“There is a wound on his neck that appears to have been caused by a sharp instrument.  My theory is that the crude syringe I found was used to deliver some sort of substance into Daniel’s bloodstream.”

“Have your people been able to determine what sort of substance, Doctor?” Hammond questioned, not liking that one of the top minds of the SGC could be under the influence of alien and unknown origin.

“I have just received the report from the lab technicians a few moments before coming to this meeting, and it certainly is concerning.  Unfortunately the lab were only able to extract a small amount from the tip of the tool used,” Janet explained, “Which didn’t give them much to work with.  The intended purpose of it is still unknown, but it does have some trace hallucinogenic properties.”

“So what will it do to Daniel?” Sam enquired, worried about what Daniel might be forced to suffer through.

“Believe it or not, that is not the most worrying part for the moment,” Janet paused, changing the tone of her voice to a more serious one.  “Of the small number of elements we were able to detect, even in such a small sample, one ingredient in particular that could cause additional problems with Daniel’s health.”

“Whatever this substance was supposed to do, the main ingredient has similar properties to that of drugs used on earth.  Sedatives, powerful sedatives.  This may go a long way to explaining why Doctor Jackson was confused in the gateroom and why he collapsed,” Janet delivered, looking at O’Neill as she finished.

"A sedative?” Jack blurted out, “If they came through the gate wanting information from Daniel, why dope him up to the eyeballs if it is intended to knock him out?”

“That is a fair question, Colonel, however my priority for the moment has to be on Doctor Jackson’s health and the affects this could have on him over the coming hours.  With the tests that were done it was determined from the amount remaining, that the dose was extraordinarily high.  As much as five times more concentrated than anything I would normally give to a patient, even in that small sample.   I am hopeful that further testing will reveal how much has entered his bloodstream.”

“Five times, Doctor?” Hammond reiterated, becoming more concerned for the young archaeologist.

“Daniel hasn’t woken up at all?” Jack questioned with a tone of dismay.  Knowing that it was still a little premature, but still feeling as if he should be doing more.

“Just before I came in here he did show signs of waking, and he whispered a few words, so that is a positive sign,” Fraiser answered, giving Daniel’s friends some piece of good news.

“Positive sign,” O’Neill scoffed slightly, knowing that little statement didn’t hold many glowing facts.  _‘We need answers damn it!’_ he shouted silently.

As if she heard his words, “Even though you are a fairly close knit team, I am not sure how aware you are to some of the reactions Doctor Jackson has to some medications, in particular sedatives,” Janet informed them.   “Even when doing regular procedures in the infirmary, the dosages given to Daniel have to be carefully monitored and controlled.  He usually only requires about half of what a regular patient might need and he usually takes longer to recover fully from the effects.”

“I remember that time a couple of months ago when I came to visit him,” Sam interjected, “I thought it was odd that he was still sleeping and he still seemed dizzy and rocky when he did wake up.”

“I knew that he didn’t like them so much,” Jack recalled, “He usually complains about them making him feel sick,” remembering a several occasions of where he had seen his friend plagued with bouts of nausea and feeling groggy and uncoordinated after receiving the medication.

Janet nodded her head at each of their stories, knowing firsthand how sick Daniel had been on some occasions.  “We are facing problems on two different fronts here.  The reactions that Doctor Jackson might suffer because of his own body’s high sensitivity, and the fact that we still don’t know what its purpose is.  It hasn’t been in his system all that long yet, so we have to remain vigilant.

“Even with the preliminary results suggesting this isn’t a contagion, I still want to restrict the number of staff attending Doctor Jackson.  Limiting it to one or two of my nursing staff, Doctor Warner, myself for now,” Janet stated, running through a mental checklist.  “When I return to the infirmary, I will contact Doctor Warner and arrange for a MRI.”

Just as Janet was about to wrap up her report, one of the junior nursing staff knocked on the door, “I am sorry to disturb this meeting, Doctor Fraiser, but Nurse Graham asked me to come and find you.”

“Nurse Graham is one of the staff members I assigned to take care of Doctor Jackson,” Janet told those around the table.  My apologies, General,” Janet conveyed as she quickly got up and followed the petite woman

“Dismissed Doctor, and SG-1,” Hammond ordered as he saw Jack was already on his feet and on his way to follow both women.  “Please keep me informed.”

Major Carter and Teal’c pursued their commanding officer out of the briefing room towards Level 25.

* * *

  ** _Returning to the infirmary…………_**

Janet was surprised at the scene that presented itself upon her arrival.   She had thought Nurse Graham would be reporting a further change in Doctor Jackson’s respiration and body temperature, but instead, the nurse was trying to calm her patient who appeared to be restless and distressed.

“What happened?” Janet commanded as she came beside the bed and noted the dramatic change in appearance of her patient. 

Daniel was tossing and turning more on the bed, as though trying to escape the gentle hands of the nursing staff that tried to prevent his movement.  His skin was much paler, but instead of being cool to the touch, his temperature was steadily rising, and his brow was now flushed with fever.

“N-no, too much…” Daniel panted, his breathing sounding considerably more laboured.  His eyes were closed, but the lids were continually fluttering as he put in a mammoth effort to fight against the drug in his system.

“I know he wasn’t like this when you left, Doctor Fraiser, and I promise I was watching him carefully,” Nurse Graham said with remorse in her voice.  “But this change just came over him so fast.  I have tried waking him, but he doesn’t seem to hear me.”

“Doctor Jackson, can you hear me?” Janet asked in a firm tone of voice, taking his hand and hoping the tactile sensation might bring him back closer to consciousness.  She called several more times and gently tried shaking his shoulder as she had done earlier, but the young man didn’t answer.  Janet couldn’t be sure if it was merely a case that he couldn’t wake from the sedative, or another cause.

“Start an I.V. Rebecca,” Janet instructed.  “We need to keep his fluid intake up.”

Daniel’s uncoordinated hands were trying to paw at the hospital gown, in an attempt to pull it away from his neck.  The doctor was worried that he might accidentally disturb the gauze and bandaging covering the wound on his neck.  “Take it easy, Doctor Jackson,” Janet soothed removing his hands and laying them back by his side.

“Doc?” a voice called out from behind. Fraiser turned to see three worried faces looking back at her.  Colonel O’Neill standing at the front of his team, his cap being twisted in his hands. 

“You will all have to wait outside until I can get him stabilized,” Janet voiced, as she took a stethoscope and began listening to the left side of her patient’s chest.

Reluctantly, the three remaining members of SG-1 could see that Fraiser was doing all she could, and they would only be in the way of her nursing staff if they stayed.  They didn’t go far though, taking up residency on the bench seat located in the corridor, waiting for news of Daniel’s condition.

Janet watched the heart rate monitor for a few moments, and checked Doctor Jackson’s breathing once more.  He had ceased being restless, but that wasn’t necessarily a good sign.  Rather that the sedative was taking more of a hold over the archaeologist.  The last of his attempts at moving his limbs was sluggish and then stopped altogether.  His head falling to one side and an audible sigh escaping his lips as he was dragged down deeper into sleep.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” the doctor stated, perplexed by the readings, “The symptoms he is exhibiting are not matching up at all.  He has a fever now, but his heart rate is still below normal levels.”

“He is quiet again now,” Nurse Graham relayed, just as confused by the patient’s conflicting symptoms as the doctor.  “Perhaps this is a virus of some kind?”

“Maybe, but the testing didn’t show any signs of a contaminate in his bloodstream.  Assuming of course, that there is bacteria present and an incubation period,” Janet thought logically.   “I need to get in contact with Doctor Warner about that MRI, when does your shift end?” 

“Not for another six hours,” Rebecca replied as she tidied some of the cables running from the monitors to the patient.  She prepared to start the I.V.  making sure that she was as gentle as possible inserting the needle.  The small sting did elicit a moan from the patient, but otherwise Daniel’s protest was minimal. 

“The MRI will take a little longer with him asleep, but no longer than thirty minutes so he should be returned here to the infirmary well before that time.  I want Isolation Room 1 set up for his return.  It will be easier to monitor him closely and less noise,” Janet informed the nurse.  “Have some icepacks on standby in case his temperature continues to rise.”

Doctor Fraiser left the patient in Rebecca’s capable hands and entered her office to set up the MRI.  “Yes, Doctor Warner, the patient is exhibiting some conflicting symptoms, but I want this done as soon as you have a clear spot on your schedule.  He is still sleeping for the moment,” Janet said, giving a truncated version of Daniel’s condition.

Walking back into the ward, “Nurse Graham, Doctor Warner said he will be done for Doctor Jackson in a few moments.  In the meantime, I have three worried teammates that I need to talk to out in the corridor.”

“Everything is still pretty much the same, Doctor,” the nurse stated relaying a quick update.  “His sleep appears to be deepening.”

* * *

_**Out in the corridor waiting…..** _

Janet paused a moment as she approached the trio, wondering how many times she had seen this exact scenario, with one member of SG-1 in the infirmary and the other three pacing back and forth, waiting for answers.   Unfortunately this occasion wasn’t much different, and she didn’t have all the answers they were looking for.   Putting on her positive face, she continued over to them, seeing Colonel O’Neill to stand.

“How is it going in there?” Jack asked simply.  Sam came and stood beside him while Teal’c remained seated on the bench, but listening to what was being said.

“Daniel is comfortable for the moment.  Doctor Warner will be coming shortly to conduct an MRI .  I don’t know if we will find anything to help, but we need to cover all bases at the moment when we have so little to go by,” Janet told them.

“He seem to be moving around a lot just a few minutes ago,” Jack pointed out. 

“The drug appears to be tightening its hold over him, and he is sleeping again.  He is running a low grade fever now, but his heart rate is slower.  I can’t tell you why that is, it normally shouldn’t be happening like that.”

“But this is Daniel we are talking about,” Jack said wryly, knowing that there was an unspoken commandment that one should not expect any normalcy when it came to Doctor Daniel Jackson being in the infirmary.

“Exactly,” Janet wholeheartedly agreed.  “For now it is a case of treat the symptoms as they present and do the best we can.”

“You look beat, Colonel, perhaps you should all go and get some rest.  By that time, Daniel should be back and you can keep him company.  After going through something like he did, a friendly face and familiar voices might help rouse him.”

“Not going to happen, Doc,” Jack stated firmly, thought running a hand over his tired face.   “SG-1 sticks together, always.  Between the three of us, we can keep watch when you bring him back.    When Daniel wakes up, he might be able to provide some clues as to who these people were.  One of us should be there just in case of that.”

Janet hid a small smile.  As long as she had known Jack O’Neill, the well-being of his team always came first.  And when it came to his best friend being sick or injured, he could rarely swayed away from a bedside vigil.   Daniel was no different when it was one of the others from the team suffering in the infirmary.  They were as close as any family she had ever known.

“I am going to back to the control room and continue with the diagnostics, Sir,” Carter notified her commanding officer. 

“Fair enough, Carter.  Me and Teal’c will go and see how Ferretti’s is going at setting up a defence team in the gateroom.  Then I want to swing by the mess and grab something to eat.  And I will bring it back here,” Jack suggested.  “I can stay with Daniel for the first few hours, then T can relieve me.  That gives you should give you a few good hours.”

“Yes, Sir,” Sam agreed. 

“Keep us informed,” Jack called out to Fraiser as she saw Doctor Warner approaching the infirmary.  Janet gave a wave of her hand to acknowledge that she had heard him.

“Come on T before my stomach chews its way out,” Jack signalled to the large Jaffa to follow him towards the gateroom, digging his hands deep into the pockets of his BDU’s as he ambled away towards the elevators.

Teal’c raised an eyebrow, but left the confusing comment go without further remark.  O’Neill often spoke in riddles and today seemed to be no different.

* * *

**_Back on the Utarian’s home world:_ **

Rogyli was frowning as he tried to concentrate and get a clearer view of the images beginning to infiltrate into the mind of the young t’auri.

“I am sorry, My Lord, I am unable to get a stronger connection for the moment.  The cause could be their bodies are much more fragile than we originally suspected.  But I do think that the serum is beginning to work.   It may take more time that I calculated and it may be that we need to be closer to the scholar for a much stronger amalgamation.

“Does it usually take this long for the serum to work on a subject?” Logatue enquired of his trusted advisor.

“Within a few more hours, the serum should be working and enable us to get clearer images from his mind.  The dose I gave him was quiet strong, but this is merely because the human mind can be resistant to probing.  In this individual, I would even go so far as to say he was actively fighting against it, but his efforts will be futile as he grows weaker and more pliable and I am able to strip back the layers of his sub-conscious,” Rogyli explained in detail.

“Remember our objective, Rogyli.  We cannot afford unnecessary mistakes or delays.  We need to know what he has seen, and if he is unwilling to give us the necessary information freely, then we must take it, by force if he continues to resist,” Logatue spoke.

* * *

**_Back at the SGC:_ **

Jack O’Neill strolled into the infirmary, with a cup of coffee in one hand and a sandwich on a plate in the other.  Nurse Graham spotted him, “Are you looking for someone, Colonel?”

“Did Fraiser bring Daniel back yet?” O’Neill enquired, knowing it was probably too early.

Teal’c had remained in the gateroom, talking to Ferretti and his men, and then intended to work out in the gym before taking his turn at _‘Daniel watching’_ duties.  Jack was grateful that Lou was as good as his word, and apart from greeting the team hearing the Major’s plan of action, he had not had to interfere too much at all.

“Not yet, Sir, but she is going to have him brought into Isolation Room 1, if you would like to wait.  I am setting up in there now,” Rebecca informed him.  Whilst she wasn’t as well acquainted with SG-1 as Doctor Fraiser, she had been around long enough to know they cared about each other.  She had seen him seated beside the archaeologist before.

“Thanks,” Jack grinned, for once not having to explain to the nursing staff why he was there.   “I see Fraiser has done her usual good job of breaking out the good furniture,” he grumbled, noticing the hard-backed chair beside the bed that was for his use if he wanted to stay.

Nurse Graham took his complaining at face value and good-naturedly, putting up with his antics as she carefully went through her normal routine for a patient. 

Approximately an hour after Jack had expected Fraiser to wheel his friend back into the infirmary, he could hear the gurney returning.  He was about to ask her how the testing had gone, when she heard Fraiser barking orders at the two orderlies with her.

“Not now, Colonel,” Janet said sharply as she helped wheel the bed into the isolation room and assisted her staff lifting an unconscious Daniel into the hospital bed Rebecca had set up.  “Nurse, I am going to need that ice much earlier than we first suspected,” she added, her focus solely on her patient.

Jack could see that Daniel was moving about a little on the bed once more, and it sounded like he was trying to say something.

“His temperature has risen almost two degrees since the trip up in the elevator.  Let’s get the I.V. in place once more and get the monitors set up as quickly as we can,” Janet told the nurse.

O’Neill had gotten up from the uncomfortable chair, and found himself almost pushed back out the door as he side-stepped the two medical staff as they worked in tandem to attend to Daniel.

“N-no I don’t want to remember ….” came the garbled sentence from the fevered young man, pulling his arm away from Janet.

“Watch that I.V. he might pull it out by accident with all this moving about,” Janet warned, as she went about listening to his chest.  She didn’t like what she was hearing.  “His chest is becoming worrisome, his breathing is too shallow and harsh for my liking.”

Jack stole glances around the two women as best he could, trying to see what was happening to his friend.  He saw Janet use a moistened cloth to wipe over Daniel’s brow and face.  His colour still wasn’t very good from what he had briefly seen earlier.

“This is what we are going to have to look for,” Janet instructed her nurse, showing her a reddish rash that could be seen on the inside of Daniel’s elbow and a good portion of his upper arm. “I can’t see it anywhere else for now, but I don’t doubt it will spread to other parts without much trouble.”

“How come he has a rash now?” Jack interrupted, knowing that it couldn’t be good.  The rash had not been there an hour ago before Doctor Warner came.  The affected area of surrounding skin appeared to be raised.

Janet turned to the Colonel and was about to shoo him out of the room, but she paused a minute, knowing there wasn’t much to gain by keeping the truth from Daniel’s friends and family, “Daniel’s fever is steadily growing higher.  And now it looks like we now have an unexplained rash to go along with it.”

Fraiser’s description of his condition ended with her turning back to focus on her patient, Jack forced to wait for a more opportune moment.  Settling to stand leaning against the door frame, watching as best he could and feeling completely inadequate.

“The results from the MRI are inconclusive,” Janet conveyed a little cryptically for O’Neill’s liking.

“What aren’t you saying?” Jack asked, rubbing at his eyes, too tired to get into Janet over antic about the use of big words that began with the prefix _“in”_

“Meaning, that despite the state of deep sleep that we attest to seeing at the moment, his brain activity isn’t behaving like it should be for someone who is under the effects of a sedative.  There is a lot of traffic going on in there at the moment, and areas that we would normally distinguish as our _‘subconscious’_ are highly stimulated when they shouldn’t be.

“So he is still thinking too much in there and freaked out by whatever weird stuff happened in the gateroom? Jack surmised.

“I wish I could be that definitive or agree that the cause was that simple, Colonel,” Fraiser replied.

Jack was brought closer to the bed by the sound of Daniel’s rough mumbling speech....”l-looks...like...c-c cuniform,” the short scattered phrase emphasised by a stray hand coming off the bed and nearly clocking Nurse Graham.

O’Neill made himself ready to step in and stop his friend from moving about so much if he had to.    Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered the archaeologist saying something about _cuniform_ before.  But didn’t know the significance or why Daniel was uttering such a word now.  Fraiser would probably say something to do with his fever no doubt.

Daniel was beginning to move around more restlessly on the bed, bringing his knees up slightly and then extending them again.  As though he was trying to find a comfortable position, but could not.

“No doubt, I can expect to see you sitting beside him in here for a while?” Janet addressed the Colonel, more of a statement than a question.

Jack nodded his head, “You know how it is.”

“Yes, I do,” Fraiser responded, knowing Colonel O’Neill would never leave until he his teammate was on the mend, and the Jack part of him, wanting to keep his best friend company and wouldn’t be waking up alone.

“Make sure you get some rest yourself, Sir,” Janet reminded him, seeing the tiredness from their latest mission still etched on his face.  “I already have enough members of SG-1 in my infirmary for the moment.”

“Yeah, I keep meaning to talk to him about that,” Jack lightly joked.

“Well, he is settled as comfortably as we can make him for the moment.  As I stated earlier, Nurse Graham here will be in charge of Doctor Jackson’s care whilst I go and attend to some other duties.  Call her at any time Daniel shows any signs of waking or being in distress.  Doctor Warner will be here for the night shift.”

Jack saw Janet talking to the nurse at the door, no doubt giving a few last minute instructions.   He took the hard-backed chair beside the bed and turned it around, leaning forward and resting his elbows on top.

With the nurse and doctor out of the room, the only noises that were left in the room were the continual blips and beeps of the monitors and a soft sound coming from Daniel’s continual restlessness against the sheets on the mattress.  Jack rubbed at his eyes, determined to keep vigil for as long as needed.

He hated this, not the bedside vigil, he had done that many times for teammates and friends.  But having to sit and watch monitors, only to hear their incessant beeps hour after hour.  Jack focused instead on his friend’s face, seeing the slight frown and wondering if Daniel was in any pain.

“Come on Daniel, tell us what went on in there,” he whispered to his slumbering friend.  “This is getting really old, you know, we need you to wake up,” he chastised lightly, knowing would not be heard.

* * *

Not quite four hours later, after a length Kel-nor-reem session, Teal’c entered the infirmary intending to check on the status of Daniel Jackson.

“Good evening, Mr Teal’c,” Nurse Graham greeted him, knowing that quite a few of the medical staff still kept their distance from the Jaffa’s imposing presence.

“Good evening,” Teal’c formally replied, “I have come to seek knowledge on the well-being of Daniel Jackson.”

“Doctor Fraiser has put him in isolation room 1, keeping the noise and the number of visitors to a minimum, but members of SG-1 are welcome to go in,” she informed him.  “Her shift has finished and Doctor Warner will be filling in for the remainder of the night.”

“I will refrain from making any unnecessary noise,” Teal’c assured her, bowing his head slightly to show respect for her position.

Upon entering, the darkened room, the Jaffa came upon the slumped figure of O’Neill who seated on a chair, resting his head on his folded arms positioned on top of the back of the chair.  It seemed a most awkward way to sleep, but the team leader was achieving just that.

Turning his attention to the sleeping figure on the bed, the younger man appeared to be moving about mumbling.  Moving closer to the poosite side of the bed, he could detect the head of fever radiating from the archaelogist.

“Sha’re open ....too hot” came the shallow pants, turning his head on the pillow and attempting to roll over on the bed.

“Hush, Daniel Jackson, it is the fever within you that speaks.”

“N-No!” Daniel said a little louder, jolting Jack from his doze, the I.V. pulled against his skin and causing him to hiss at the slight pain he felt.

“Hey T,” O’Neill said, blinking a few times, and not really remembering when he had fallen asleep.  “Just watching our young charge here.”

“Maintaining a bedside vigil requires at least one party to remain awake, O’Neill.”

Jack glared back at the Jaffa, wanting to challenge him on that statement, but Nurse Graham entered the room, ready to take the next set of vitals.

“Good evening, gentlemen, have a nice nap did we Colonel O’Neill?” the nurse enquired politely, having seen him dozing lightly on the last two times she had checked on Doctor Jackson.

“It _was not_ a nap,” Jack stated indignantly.  “I am a Colonel, we don’t nap,” daring the Jaffa to even show the slightest hint of a smirk or smile.

_‘Obviously not long_ enough’ Rebecca thought to herself as she set about recording the reading from the different monitors.

“How is he doing?” O’Neill began to asked, then kicking himself for admitting to perhaps not being so vigilent, “I meant to say, there hasn’t been any major changes.   No screeching alarms from the machines or anything.”

Nurse Graham and Teal’c shared a knowing glance at each other, “Not that you have seen,” she added, causing the Colonel to scowl back at the both of them.

“Daniel Jackson believed he was talking to his wife, Sha’re, when I entered this room,” Teal’c conveyed.

“Dreaming of Sha’re?” Jack queried, a nod from the Jaffa had the both of them giving Daniel a concerned look from above his bed.  They knew how private he could be about his wife and how well he often hid the pain of her captivity.

“His temperature is a little higher,” the nurse said as she took a digital reading and noting the increase from an hour ago.  “His sleep is still fairly deep.”

“Not showing signs of waking anytime soon, huh?” Jack asked, standing and stretching his back muscles that were making him hurt from being in one position for too long.

“No I am afraid not, but Doctor Fraiser suspected as much,” Rebecca answered.  “She said whatever he was given was fairly potent and expected him to sleep fairly solidly for at least tonight.  

The nurse bent over the bed and pulled back the blanket, uncovering the young man’s left arm, examining it for sign of the unexplained rash that had been present earlier.  It was still visible, and raised to her touch.  It was showing on his other arm,  but his chest, face and lower limbs were rash free for now.

Rebecca replaced the blankets and began making the necessary notations on her patient’s chart.  “Why don’t you get some coffee, Colonel and something to eat,” the nurse suggested, knowing he had been at his friends bedside for a number of hours. 

“You okay to stay here for a bit, just in case?” Jack asked, reluctant to hand the duties over.

“That is what I am here for O’Neill, to give you time to do this and return to the _‘nap’_ that you were not having.”

“Yeah, I might go and have a shower and then get something to eat.  You want?” ignoring the jab, not wanting to admit to being a little tired.

“I have partaken in a meal earlier, and require no further sustance at this time.  Major Carter intends to come and keep Daniel Jackson company in a few hours from now, allowing you to gain several hours of rest.”

“Come and get me if there is any change or he starts squawking jibberish.  Tell Carter the same,” O’Neill ordered as he headed for the door.  “I will be back in a few.”

“I will do so,” Teal’c affirmed.

Major Samantha Carter had been working late into the early morning when she came to relieve Teal’c in the infirmary.  Her Jaffa teammate was keeping a quiet vigil, and the whole infirmary was eerily quiet except for the soft ping of monitors. 

Nurse Stevens was on duty and had been assigned care of Daniel Jackson until Rebecca Graham returned in the morning.  She had been given Doctor Fraiser’s instructions and other information about the patient’s routine. 

“Hey, Tealc,” Sam greeted her teammate, “How is he doing?” she asked, creeping up as quietly as she could so as not to disturb Daniel’s slumber.

“Major Carter, my time here has passed without incident.  Daniel Jackson has slept without waking.”

“He still has a fever,” Sam pointed out as she put a gentle hand on her friend’s brow, detecting the heat and the dryness of his skin.  He still looked too pale to her, the only bright spots on his cheeks.

“The nursing staff have been monitoring him carefully, and have noted another increase in temperature since O’Neill and Doctor Fraiser departed earlier in the evening.”

“O’Neill asks that we retrieve him from his quarters if Daniel Jackson begins to make noises like a bird.”

Sam turned and looked at such an odd statement, knowing that Teal’c was still learning some of the ways the Colonel said things.   “He wants us to keep him up to date?” was the shortened version she substituted.

“That is so.  Daniel Jackson was quiet restless when I first came to watch over him, but has not been moving since then.”

Sam had been in contact with the infirmary earlier in the evening and had been informed about the presence of the unknown rash that they were keeping an eye on.  Looking at it now herself, she cringed slightly at the raised surface, but noted it appeared to be contained to the same areas that nurse Rebecca Graham had told her about.

Her attention kept being drawn to the stark white bandage around her gentle friend’s neck and she had to force herself to keep her anger suppressed that anybody would inflict any deliberate injury on Daniel.

“Good night, Teal’c,” the blond major called out as he neared the door to leave.

“Good morning, Major Carter,” Teal’c replied, giving a slight smile in reference to the early morning hour.

“Now Daniel, it is just you and me,” she whispered, setting herself up as comfortably as possible in the hard-backed chair, moving it around a little differently than Teal’c had so that she was more at the head of the bed. She made sure that she wasn’t in the way of any monitors or preventing the nurses from getting to their patient when they came in.

* * *

**_Back on the other side of the Stargate on the Utarian’s home world:_ **

“When do you estimate we will be able to gain what we need from this T’auri subject?” Logatue asked his advisor.

There was a brief pause before Rogyli spoke, “Forgive me Vice-Chancellor, I was beginning to receive a stronger connection to the young human.   The serum is still taking longer than was unseen in my previous calculations.”

“A stronger connection?  Then we will have what we require?” Logatue questioned.

“There is no doubt that his human physiology has interfered for a time with the serum, but I suspect that the delay will be minimal achieving our goals,” Rogyli assured his ruler.

“Once I am able to project ourselves sufficiently enough, then I will force the connection to become even stronger, and his resistance, though impressive, will become weaker and eventually fall away, making him co-operate.  I will implant an image of ourselves into his sub-conscious so that only he is able to recognize us and mask our presence to all others for as long as we choose.”

“I expect you to do what you need to in order to make him submit if he will not willing do so,” Logatue ordered.

Although it was barely seven a.m. in the morning, Jack O’Neill had managed to get a few hours decent sleep and felt much better for it.  He was feeling much more like his old self this morning, and headed to the infirmary to check on Carter and Daniel. 

He had already met Teal’c in the gym for a brief workout session to ease some of the tension in his shoulders and back.  Teal’c had given him a brief rundown of the quiet night that had taken place in Daniel’s room, filling him as much as he could.

Today was the start of a new day, and Daniel was going to wake up and tell them what they needed to know and they were going to be able to kick some tail and put this whole sorry mess behind them and get back to the real job of kicking some even bigger Goa’uld on the other side of the Star-Gate.

On his way out of the commissary O’Neill grabbed two hot cups of coffee, one for himself and one for his 2IC.

Back in the infirmary, Doctor Janet Fraiser had just signed on for her shift, “Good morning, Nurse Graham,” she said warmly to her staff member. 

“Good morning to you too, Doctor Fraiser,” Rebecca reciprocated, getting ready to change the dressings on one of the marines in the ward.    
  
“Sergeant Masters giving you any trouble?” Janet asked, looking at Roland Masters as the nurse discarded the old gauze.

“Oh, he wouldn’t do that, would you Sergeant?” the nurse said firmness to her voice, “He knows that I will give him a cold sponge bath if he does,” she added, both of them laughing at the scene of Masters gulping nervously sinking lower into the bed and compiling with instructions without any protest at all.

“I will take a look at Doctor Jackson now while you finish here,” Janet informed her.

“I had a good talk to Nurse Stevens this morning as soon as I arrived.  Major Carter is keeping Doctor Jackson company for now, but has been there for some hours I believe.  His temperature is up a little higher again from when you left yesterday.”

“Increasing?” Janet queried, pausing as she listened.  “Anything else I should know about before I go in there?”

“Doctor Jackson was still restless up until the time Colonel O’Neill left last night, but Nurse Stevens reported that he was quiet after that for most of the night.  The rash is still present and raised, but only showing on his lower forearms at the moment.”

“Not spreading,” Fraiser assumed, “That is at least something,” she murmured, heading towards the isolation room to check on the patient for herself.

As she passed the main set of doors, Janet was greeted by Colonel O’Neill bearing two hot cups of coffee, and gratefully took possession of one, “Thank you for being so kind, Sir.”

Jack opened his mouth to protest, “Sure, that is what I am here for, to supply hot coffee to the nursing staff.”

“I knew you would find your place within Cheyenne Mountain eventually, Sir,” Janet teased.

“I get no respect,” he grumbled good-naturedly, noting the direction they were both headed in.  “Thought Daniel might be complaining loudly about not having his morning quota,” he said in jest.

“I know you don’t really mean that, Colonel,” the doctor said sternly.  “He is not even awake yet, and coffee is the last thing on my list for Daniel today.”

“Hey, Carter.   Fraiser says you are in trouble for asking for this for Daniel,” O’Neill greeted his 2IC as they entered the private room.

Sam knew from the look on his face that Colonel was tormenting Janet already this morning, and let the comment slide.  She rubbed tiredly at her face, reddening a little at the knowing looks from both of them that she had been awake into the wee hours.  She stood up and accepted the cup.

“Thank you, Sir,” Carter said as she inhaled the glorious aroma of freshly brewed coffee.  She took the first mouthful and savoured the taste, grateful for the warmth.

“Daniel, you have a lot to answer for around here,” Jack commented after seeing the blissful look on her face after drinking the steaming beverage, causing both women to chuckle.  His mood sobered a little though as he walked over and stood beside his silent friend, noting that there wasn’t much change in his appearance from when Teal’c had taken over.

“Go and get some sleep, Carter or you will be waking people soon making those sort of noises first thing in the morning,” Jack lightly chastised.

“Take care, Daniel, and I will be back a little later to check on you,” Sam said, giving her friend a light kiss on his cheek, and fondly brushing his hair back from his forehead.

to be continued………………….

**Author's Note:**

> Oh well, my first chapter for the Stargate realm is now written – so please let me know how I did. Reviews very welcome and keep me inspired, but please be gentle, I bruise easy. There are a lot more Stargate stories named and plotted to come.
> 
> The name of "Walter Harriman" was done wrong from the start as "Walter Davis."
> 
> Any technical errors with how all the control equipment works is purely by accident.
> 
> More information about exactly what happened in the gateroom in the next chapter. Quite a few clues thrown around at the moment, but you will need quite a few more yet before the plot is fully fleshed out.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


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